As regards multimodality and audiovisual translation (AVT), it must first be stressed that most research on multimodality has not as yet focused on questions of translation. Over a relatively short time span, most of the major contributions to the field have been more purely linguistically based but intent on providing keys to the understanding of the interplay of semiotic resources (words, images, gesture, music, light, etc., see O’Toole, 1994; Kress & van Leuwen, 1996; Martinec, 2000; Unsworth, 2001; Baldry & Thibault, 2001, 2005, 2006, etc.). The work of these scholars has provided an impetus to developing ideas on how to exploit multimodal analyses in the area of AVT and studies on multimodality have thus had some effect on audiovisual translation, but the field is so vast that it would be true to say that only the surface has been scratched and much deeper digging is required. So, notwithstanding the fact that the enormous potential of multimodality studies for the field of AVT has not yet been fully tapped, work is currently being pursued. This chapter will examine what has been achieved so far in this direction and make the point that it is the organization of content and expression in a multimodal text that provides the key to its meaning and the means for its translation.
