Abstract
The article discusses a functional approach to audio description (AD) and first proposes a classification of text types, followed by a model of source text (ST) analysis which encompasses three layers: the contextual, the macrotextual and the microtextual. The functional model helps identify the functional priorities in a given ST, which may then guide the audio describer’s decision-making process: the results of contextual and macrotextual analyses will assist the describer in the selection of the so-called macro strategy, while the microtextual analysis may help in making lower-level decisions called micro strategies. Although the model has been designed primarily for didactic purposes, its principles may also be useful for more experienced describers. Additionally, the model constitutes a theoretical conceptualisation of AD and attempts to better integrate AD within the field of translation studies.
Highlights
In translation studies (TS) the 1980s saw a shift away from static linguistic and equivalence-based approaches to translation towards more flexible ones focused on the functions of the source text (ST) and the purpose of the target text (TT) in the target culture (TC), which in turn determine the adopted translation strategies (e.g., Nord, 1997; Vermeer, 2000)
The microtextual analysis will use some of the same parameters used in the macro analysis, such as time and space considerations, characters, dialogues and sounds, filmic language, etc
The primary purpose of developing the functionally-oriented audio description (AD) model as presented above has been to provide a theoretical framework for the study of AD and to integrate AD within the scope of translation studies as a discipline, by positing that AD is a type of translation to which the tenets of the functional approach can be applied as well
Summary
In translation studies (TS) the 1980s saw a shift away from static linguistic and equivalence-based approaches to translation towards more flexible ones focused on the functions of the source text (ST) and the purpose (skopos) of the target text (TT) in the target culture (TC), which in turn determine the adopted translation strategies (e.g., Nord, 1997; Vermeer, 2000). In the article I propose a functionally-oriented typology of audiovisual texts, which is followed by the proposal of a model that includes the contextual as well as macro- and micro-level analyses of the ST with a view to determining the functional priorities in AD Such analyses will help inform the audio describer’s decision-making process when selecting appropriate AD strategies (both at the macro and micro level) in order to best fulfil the skopos—or, as the case may be, various skopi—of AD in a given context. The functional framework as applied to AD will first of all be an attempt to theorise about AD, but more importantly, it will be a practical tool for effective audio description, especially useful for trainee or beginner audio describers It should be noted, that due to the space limitations of a journal article only the basic premises of the AD functional model are outlined here. Every effort has been taken to ensure that the approach has been presented in as coherent a manner as possible
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