Raising gender awareness in translation through AVT and advertising

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to describe a pilot study conducted with 46 Translation and Intercultural Mediation students in an English language module at advanced level. We adapt Borghetti and Lertola's five-phase model (2014) of intercultural awareness using subtitling, a modality of AVT (Audiovisual Translation) in order to tackle gender issues and genderrelated language in the subtitling of the well-known The man your man could smell like Old Spice body wash advertisement. Results show that students failed to convey the ad's sexist message in their Spanish translation, which was further confirmed when comparing students' translation choices with the official Spanish dubbed version of the ad. This pilot study suggests ways for Translation and English language teachers to integrate the gender perspective in their teaching whilst students become aware of their power and responsibility as translators.