Translating Music

As a mode of artistic communication, music is translation by essence. It 'transmutates' aesthetics sensibilities (Jakobson), transcends and translates cultures, enabling interactions across communities. Yet the phenomenon of translation in music is complex. Does a famous song like Guantanamera, sung and translated in a wide range of languages, strongly evoke Cuba, or just exoticise it in the imagination of the listeners? Can Frank Sinatra's 'If you go away' be considered a translation of Jacques Brel's original song? Music from all countries and cultures can be listened to easily, but can it be understood? While the largest awards and music talent shows, largely driven by the US and UK who still hold more than 40% of the music market value, are still dominated by English, music featuring foreign languages is promoted through a range of sites (e.g. Music Alliance Pact), genres (opera, world music, film music) and platforms (radio, internet, digital juke-boxes, cinema, television, particularly music television channels, live performances). Yet the interconnections of translation and music have not been widely explored and verbal language, often part of musical texts, remains a barrier to social cohesion as words are frequently left untranslated or are poorly suited to a multimodal context.

This network brings together an interdisciplinary network of academics, music and translation professionals, and industry providers to foster new developments in the mediation of musical texts and engage in a debate on the complexities and the challenges of music mediation in the 21st century. Exploring the interpersonal, intercultural, intralinguistic and interlinguistic bridges on which music and translation intersect, it examines how words linked to music are currently translated. It will also map out current practices to identify how to improve the provision of such translation to make music more widely accessible, and multicultural forms of expression both more visible and more valued. In particular, contemporary translation and accessibility models provided for opera will be examined with the aim of considering them in other musical contexts. Opera houses, under criticism for being elitist and therefore under pressure to provide access to a wide public, are successful pioneers in the provision of intralinguistic and interlinguistic translation. They are also successful in adapting past works into representations that are meaningful to present audiences. Besides, opera and its contemporary new forms are offered in translation in several formats from film to radio broadcast or live performance and actively engage with new technologies in order to connect with audiences.

Translation strategies and technologies pioneered in opera, still the leader in successful translation provision, can be useful models for other musical forms and genres in film, television and multimedia. This network will chart the most important developments to be considered so that the art that 'hears cultures' (Erlman) can also translate them. A range of events to promote the development of the translation of musical texts will take place, fostering interaction between translators working in the field of music, translation and accessibility managers and different music providers. Partners with expertise in translating and making music accessible to contemporary audiences are keen to develop new technologies, undertake research in the mediation of music and exchange ideas across different sectors of the music industry. National accessibility organisations are also offering expertise and cooperation, involving end users to take part in applied research on accessibility and music.

When surtitles were introduced in opera, audiences unanimously claimed how much they enhanced their enjoyment of music. The ultimate role of this international network is to make similar enhancements possible across all musical audiences and performances.

The impact of the 'Translating Music' network is to be visible in academia, in the music industry and in the third sector. The network will also generate results from which general public end users will benefit. Long-term impact will be interpersonal (as enjoyment of music and unknown cultures is enhanced), social (as cohesion is favoured through better communication and enjoyment of cultural differences) and economic (as translation and accessibility provision is boosted in the industry and in music institutions). Germany has recently overtaken the UK as the first music market in Europe and English as the exclusive lingua franca of Europe is decreasing (Ostler 2010). Björk, Enya, Enrique Iglesias are some of the many best-selling artists drawing audiences through the multilingualism (and often the translation) of their songs. The global music scene, although still dominated by English, is more multicultural than ever with internet and television channels widening their outputs, and with digital platforms (now 32% of the music market) facilitating international distribution. In addition, offering cultural products to the visually and hearing impaired is part of a growing trend. The UK is a leader in accessibility provision and can play a vital role in this area, underdeveloped in music except in opera. On the music scene, when translation and accessibility have been provided in the past, enthusiasm for more regular access has followed. This has been the case in opera, which has been revolutionised by surtitling, and is being made accessible to the blind through audiodescription. In other musical genres, workers in the third sector have been calling for more research and action in this respect (See attachments, Music and accessibility, Action for Hearing Loss and UICI).

In such a context, this network, promoting suitable mediation for musical texts, has a strong potential for impact. Enhancing relationships between academia, the music industry, music institutions and the third sector, it will:

1. Ensure wide advertising and dissemination of seminars, training sessions and activities provided, as well as dissemination of the knowledge collected throughout the network, in the form of publications and freely accessed resources (interactive website, experts interviews, training material bank).

2. Give international visibility to the project and promote it through online as well as UK and international events. This will generate interest with a wide range of participants which will become members of the network.

3. Generate interest in translation and accessibility provision. In the experience of the investigators, when such suitable provision is offered, music organisers and the public respond positively to further developments. It is hoped that through the work of the advisory group, more provision will be promoted on the music scene, but also that network participants will be enthused to develop translation projects in this area.

4. Impact the Translation Studies curriculum in highlighting a gap which can be filled, intially primarily in the UK but internationally in the longer term. This network's activities will stimulate the large group postgraduate students in translation to develop their skills in this area, and use them in the projects and placements which they undertake.

5. Draw from the UK leading expertise in accessibility provision and offer more opportunities to enjoy music to those who have some degree of impairment and rely on accessibility provision to connect fully with music. This concerns a wide section of the population: the blind, the deaf, but also a large percentage the public lose their hearing as they get older and benefit from the assistance of some form of translation that allows them to enjoy music.

6. Create more opportunities for communication across linguistic, social, generational and cultural barriers, allowing music to be perceived and shared globally and universally.