Experiencing translated media: why audience research needs translation studies

ABSTRACT

Audience research has a long tradition in media studies. Many audience studies focus on translated materials, particularly television programmes broadcast in different countries. The research is thus often conducted on viewers whose experiences have been shaped by a translation. However, questions of translation often play only a marginal role. Some studies do not mention translation at all, while others dismiss it as a transparent rewording of the original. From the perspective of translation studies, this is problematic, because the translation is never a simple word-for-word rendering of the source text. Translations inevitably change the media text and become an integral factor in shaping the audience’s experience. In recent years, reception research has gained increased attention within translation studies, particularly in audiovisual translation. Such studies offer insights that could be useful for media studies. This article will discuss the potential for an outward turn in reception research within translation studies. Focusing on audiovisual translation, it will present research conducted within media studies and translation studies to see how the two disciplines can complement each other and, particularly, how translation research can inform media studies and encourage more critical, conscious approaches towards translated materials.

KEYWORDS:

• Audiovisual translation
• subtitling
• media studies
• audience research
• reception

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Veeti Tolvanen for his assistance with the research conducted for this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tiina Tuominen

Tiina Tuominen works as a Lecturer and Convenor of the MSc in Translation Studies in the School of Modern Languages and Cultures at the University of Glasgow. Her current research interests focus on audiovisual translation and subtitling, particularly reception and audience studies, usability and user-centered translation, and translators’ workplace studies. She has also worked as a translator and subtitler for several years.