Translating Verbal and Visual Language in The Piano

Abstract

This paper explores the way in which visual and verbal signs interact with each other in film and how the nature of this interaction impacts on interlingual subtitling and dubbing. The audiovisual text consists of an intricate network of signs from which the viewer will infer meaning. The audiovisual translator needs to consider the different elements involved before deciding on a possible rendering or particular translation strategy over and above the various constraints which operate in subtitling and dubbing. The verbal dialogues are situated within a visual narrative, complemented by nonlinguistic auditory signs such as sound effects and music. Up to what point can we say that visual information in the image shapes the translations? Is it enough to let the image speak for itself, or are there ways in which one strategy could be preferred over another because of other signs in the image?