2007/11/01 by Pilar Orero, Anna Matamala
Arts and Humanities · Psychology · #Language, Metaphor, and Cognition #Subtitles and Audiovisual Media #Translation Studies and Practices
paper · doi:10.1080/13670050802326766
openalex publication_date 2007/11/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
The desire to make media available for all has been rapidly accepted and implemented by most European countries. Opera, as one of the many audiovisual representations, also falls under the category of production which needs to be made accessible and this article aims to analyse how opera has gone through a complete transformation to become a cultural event for all, overcoming not only linguistic but also sensorial barriers. The first part of the article analyses the various forms of translation associated with opera and the main challenges they entail. The second presents different systems used to make opera accessible to the sensorially challenged, highlighting their main difficulties. Examples from research carried out at the Barcelona's Liceu opera house are presented to illustrate various modalities, especially audio description. All in all, it is our aim to show how translated-related processes have made it possible to open opera to a wider audience despite some initial reluctance.