Is audiovisual translation putting the concept of translation up against the ropes?

Abstract

The imposing reality of audiovisual translation has long challenged the concept of ‘equivalence’ and has put this notion against the ropes almost from the very first moments of its creation. Furthermore, the advent of new tendencies in audiovisual consumption, accompanied by a variety of localization practices, challenges the traditional concept of ‘translation’ as we know it. This article reviews which characteristics of audiovisual translation have called into question the very essence of translation, as it has been traditionally understood. After an explanation of new practices mainly created by the new audiences or prosumers, a list of concepts and terms that try to give account to this new reality is discussed, among them localisation, transadaptation, adaptation, transcreation and transmedia narratives, as well as remakes and format licensing. Conclusions call for a new concept of equivalence that also embraces new types of relations between original and target texts, such as iconic and narrative equivalence.