Inside the mind of an audiovisual translator : a journey through the translation and adaptation process of a docudrama text for subtitling and voice-over

Abstract

This study aims at providing a look “inside the mind of an audiovisual translator”, describing the journey of a sample of AV material from source to target and following its development from the perspective of the translator, observing the choices made and the driving factors behind such choices. Three excerpts of a docudrama were selected and translated into Italian using the AVT modes of subtitling and voice-over (VO), in order to discover how the text evolves from source to target in the mind of an audiovisual translator, which factors influence the thought processes behind the decisions taken and whether any comparison or parallel can be drawn between the transformation process of the subtitles versus the VO. Moreover, the possibility of entrusting the same practitioner (or team of practitioners) with both the translation for VO and subtitling has been explored, considering whether it might potentially improve the process.