Integrating museum studies into translation studies: towards a reconceptualization of the source text as sensory experience in museum audio description and the notion of experiential equivalence

ABSTRACT This article focuses on museum audio description (AD) as a modality of intersemiotic translation (IT) primarily addressed to people with visual impairments. Still at an early stage of development in terms of both academic research and professional practices, museum AD lies at the crossroads of a variety of disciplines, such as translation studies (TS) and museum studies (MS). The aim of this contribution is to suggest a reconceptualization of traditional notions in TS (source text and equivalence) in the context of museum AD and encompassing the translational phenomenon per se. Theoretical considerations from MS and specific guidelines for museum AD practices will offer cross-disciplinary insights to redefine such concepts and reflect upon translation as a semiosic process in which meanings are created, rather than transferred. This article suggests the coincidence in AD of source and target texts as sensory experience and puts forth the concept of experiential equivalence.