Peut-on traduire une image ? Implications de la créativité dans la traduction de textes audiovisuels

Abstract

Multimodality is an integral characteristic of Audiovisual Translation. Regardless of type and genre, audiovisual texts (i.e. film, TV series, videogame) are above all semiotic constructs comprising several signifying codes that operate simultaneously in the production of meaning. While audiences mechanically receive and interpret the information transmitted by each of these codes and signs, audiovisual translators must know their functioning and consider their possible impact on translation operations. In this context, images represent one of the major challenges to ensure coherence within audiovisual translation. This paper sets out to explore the main strategies used to explicit iconographic information in the target text. These practices typically involve, but are not limited to, the inclusion of linguistic signs related to the icon as well as the inclusion of signs belonging to other meaning codes, thanks to the possibilities that new technologies and digitalization now offer. Linked to the notions of transcreation and localization, these help target audiences fill gaps in the understanding of audiovisual texts, but also promote overtranslation. This may lead to an extreme domestication, a phenomenon in which foreign cultures would be erased. In this regard, we wonder if such practices will not assume a paternalistic approach to target audiences.