[Event] 5th International Edition Translation Symposium
5th International Edition
Translation Symposium
Audiovisual Translation and Computer-Mediated Communication: Fostering Access to Digital Mediascapes
26-27 May 2020
Location
University of Palermo – Department of Humanities
Complesso Monumentale Sant’Antonino/Palazzo Chiaramonte Steri
Piazzetta Sant’Antonino, 1 – Palermo
Synopsis
Research on (audiovisual) translation, computer-mediated communication and accessibility has
gained momentum in recent years. Accessibility, understood as the set of procedures, mechanisms and practices aimed at the provision of inclusive services addressed to a general public, has grown as a methodological and theoretical framework in academia. For many, it should be entrenched in society as a human right (Rizzo 2019; Greco 2018), since its ultimate goal is to facilitate universal access to knowledge, thus breaking not only linguistic and cultural barriers but also sensory ones (Di Giovanni 2018).
Against the backdrop of digital mediascapes, accessibility has become an instrument of mediation
and communication across a variety of discursive perspectives (Catenaccio 2018; Federici 2019), and its function is guaranteed and strengthened by the vast array of audiovisual translation modes
practised in the industry as well as by the proliferation of visual and linguistic performative narratives on the web (Bou-Franch 2019; Sindoni 2013). In the digital space (i.e. websites, blogs, web collectives, social networks), accessibility guarantees the provision of some measures that make discourse more accessible for all users. These rapid and encompassing developments are increasingly affecting education and translation training (Spinzi 2019).
The combination of two domains, namely, audiovisual translation and computer-mediated
communication, to secure accessible digital platforms, entails both usability and inclusion,
specifically conceived for the design, creation and development of (audio)visual digital spaces that
are addressed to all citizens and make knowledge universally accessible. Such an approach has
opened up new horizons of global interaction, which cannot but involve interlingual activities. Among them, practices like amateur translation, fandubbing and cybersubtitling (Díaz Cintas 2018) have become crucial to the construction of digital networks for the spread of computer-mediated
knowledge (Zummo 2018). In broader terms, the promotion of access services to information in
digital settings recognises the need for adapting, simplifying, reinforcing, manipulating and/or
translating written and spoken messages in order to make them accessible to anyone, thus, including people with different (temporary or contingent) cognitive abilities, speakers of other languages, sensory-impaired persons, and regular citizens.
In light of recent scholarly research in audiovisual translation and thanks to the “affordabilities of
information and communication technologies and their alleged democratising power” (Díaz Cintas
2018: 127), the symposium aims to explore the links between new forms of translation and the
language of the multiple digital discourse types inhabiting the cyberspace (Maci 2013). Encouraging knowledge dissemination while at the same time challenging conventional media, the event is open to students, academics, teachers, and professionals interested in the role and potential of access services, of which interlingual translation is a component, in the promotion and propagation of digital discourses.
Speakers
Patricia Bou-Franch, University of ValènciaPaola Catenaccio, University of Milano “Statale”, Larissa
D’Angelo, University of Bergamo, Jorge Díaz Cintas, University College London, Elena Di
Giovanni, University of Macerata, Eleonora Federici, University of Ferrara, Gian Maria Greco,
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Anna Jankowska, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Maria
Grazia Sindoni, University of Messina, Nuria Sanmartín Rincart, Universidad de Valencia
With the participation of Gabriele Uzzo (PhD student, University of Palermo), Maila Enea (Hogarth,
London), and Silvia Torta (Transperfect, Prague).
Organising Committee
Jorge Díaz Cintas (University College London), Stefania Maci (University of Bergamo), Giulia
Adriana Pennisi (University of Palermo), Alessandra Rizzo (University of Palermo), Cinzia Spinzi
(University of Bergamo), Marianna Lya Zummo (University of Palermo).
Scientific Committee
Rocío Baños, University College London, Lindsay Bywood, University of Westminster, Floriana Di Gesù,
University of Palermo, Frederic Chaume, Universitat Jaume I, Jorge Díaz Cintas, University College London, Sabine Hoffmann, University of Palermo, Arista Kuo, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Stefania Maci, University of Bergamo, Serenella Massidda, University of Roehampton, Josélia Neves, Bin Khalifa University, Qatar, Jan Pedersen, University of Stockholm, Giulia Adriana Pennisi, University of Palermo, Nina Reviers, University of Antwerp, Alessandra Rizzo, University of Palermo, Pablo Romero-Fresco, University of Vigo, Cinzia Spinzi, University of Bergamo, Agnieszka Szarkowska, University of Warsaw, Iván Villanueva, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas, Juan Zhang, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China, Antonino Velez, University of Palermo, Marianna Lya Zummo, University of Palermo
References
Catenaccio, P. 2018. “Web-mediated stakeholder communication in the biotech industry: the discursive construction of dialogic illusion”. Altre Modernità, pp. 48-63.
Díaz Cintas, J. 2018. “Subtitling’s a carnival’: New practices in cyberspace”. Journal of Specialised Translation, issue 30, pp. 127-149.
Di Giovanni, E. (2018). “Participatory accessibility: Creating audio description with blind and non-blind children”. Journal of Audiovisual Translation, 1(1), pp. 155-169.
Federici, E. (2019). “Translating the ‘Other’ for the Western World for more than a Decade: Incredible India! Campaigns”. In “Mind the Gap in Tourism Discourse: traduzione, mediazione, inclusione”, Altre Modernità, 21, pp. 124-139.
Garcés-Conejos Blitvich, P., & Bou-Franch, P. (2019). Analysing Digital Discourse: New Insights and Future Directions, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
Greco, G.M. (2018). “The nature of accessibility studies”. Journal of Audiovisual Translation, 1(1), pp. 205-232.
Jankowska, A. (2015). Translating Audio Description Scripts: Translation as a New Strategy of Creating Audio Description, Frankfurtam Main: Peter Lang.
Maci, S. (2013). Tourism Discourse: Professional, Promotional and Digital voices. Genova: ECIG.
Rizzo, A. (2019). “Museums as disseminators of niche knowledge: Universality in accessibility for all”. Journal of Audiovisual Translation, 2(2), pp. 92-136.
Sindoni, M.G., Spoken and Written Discourse in Online Environments: A Multimodal Approach, London and New York, Routledge, 2013.
Spinzi, C. (2019). “Training the Future Cultural Mediators”. Cultus, 12, pp. 8-14.
Zummo M.L. (2018). “Using Forum Collaborative Settings for Translation Outcomes: A Threat to Translation Professionals?”. In Spinzi, Rizzo, and Zummo (eds), Translation or Trasncreation? Discourses, Texts and Visuals, Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars, pp. 121-135.
https://www.unipa.it/dipartimenti/scienzeumanistiche/.content/documenti/sinossiPalermo.pdf