Audio description and culture-specific elements

Culture-specific references (CSRs) are widely studied in translation studies (TS) and in audiovisual translation (AVT) where intercultural competence is identified as crucial in various frameworks of translator competence and as one of the main challenges in translation. Surprisingly, in audio description (AD) research, training and practice, culture-specific references and intercultural competence receive far less attention. This chapter presents an overview of research into various aspects of culture-specific references in audio description. It tackles three areas: taxonomies of CSR type and transfer tactics, the intercultural competence of describers and interlingual translation of audio description scripts. Three main conclusions of this overview are presented. Firstly, an AD-specific taxonomy of CSR transfer tactics is needed as solutions borrowed from TS and AVT are not easily transferable. Secondly, intercultural competence is a burning issue in research, training and practice. Thirdly, interlingual translation of audio description scripts might be a viable solution to provide audio descriptions rich in cultural content.