How are translations created? Using multimodal conversation analysis to study a team translation process

Maija Hirvonen,Liisa Tiittula

doi:10.52034/lanstts.v17i0.465

Abstract

This article demonstrates a methodology for studying the translation process from the perspective of multimodal social interaction and applies this methodology to a case analysis of collaborative audio description. The methodology is multimodal conversation analysis, which aims to uncover the way in which multimodal communication resources (e.g., talk, gaze, gestures) are used holistically and situatedly in building human action. Being empirical and data-driven, multimodal conversation analysis observes human conduct in its natural setting. This article analyses video data from an authentic audio-description process and presents the multimodal constitution of problem-solving sequences during translating. In addition, the article discusses issues regarding the methodological choices facing researchers who are interested in human interaction in translation. The article shows that applying multimodal conversation analysis opens new avenues for research into the translation process and collaborative translation.

Highlights

From textual to social-interactiveTaking a multimodal perspective on translation often means that multimodality is considered a textual phenomenon, that is, as the meaning-making potential of visual, auditory and verbal elements in both source texts (ST) and target texts (TT)
Here we have sampled an analysis of a specific type of translating, we claim that this methodology is applicable to more typical cases of interlingual translation—for example, to study the settings in which translators meet to discuss drafts of translations
Similar to the multimodal turn in text analysis, the multimodal analysis of interaction has widened the focus from talk to the way people use their bodies and environments as communication resources

Summary

Introduction

From textual to social-interactiveTaking a multimodal perspective on translation often means that multimodality is considered a textual phenomenon, that is, as the meaning-making potential of visual, auditory and verbal elements in both source texts (ST) and target texts (TT) (see, for example, Kaindl, 2013 and articles in this Special Issue). On the other hand, multimodality becomes a social-interactive phenomenon in interpretermediated interaction where, in addition to talk, bodily actions and material artefacts used by co-participants are analysed (see, for example, Davitti & Pasquandrea, 2017). The goal of the present article is to demonstrate a methodology that takes a conversation-analytical approach to multimodal interaction and is suitable for studying multimodal interaction in translation processes. Multimodal conversation analysis (CA) is widely used in social and linguistic interaction research. It examines the orderliness of human interactions from a multimodal perspective, analysing people’s use of both verbal (talk) and embodied communication (gestures, facial expressions, posture, etc.) and material objects on the basis of video data of naturally occurring social interactions. Multimodality includes all the relevant resources employed by the participants to build and interpret their situated action and it treats them in the same way without a priori hierarchization (Mondada, 2018, p. 86)

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