8th Media for All International Conference: Complex Understandings

The Institute for Interpreting and Translation Studies at the Department of Swedish Language and Multilingualism at Stockholm University held the the 8th Media for All conference – Complex Understandings, on June 17–19, 2019.

Cover of the M4A8 Book of Abstracts
Cover (cropped) of the M4A8 Book of Abstracts, 2019.

The conference was held at the main campus of Stockholm University in the urban national park at Frescati. The conference attracted academics, researchers, language practitioners, translators, interpreters, broadcasters, government agencies, support groups and the audiovisual translation (AVT) and media accessibility (MA) industry, not only from Europe, but indeed from all over the world.

 

 

The world is becoming ever more complex and the world of audiovisual translation and media accessibility no less so. With ever more ways and ever more environments (cinema, TV, video games, computers, smart phones and glasses, social media etc.) in which to take part of (and in) audiovisual material, the complexities for AVT and MA are increasing.

Not only that, but more diverse groups of inhabitants of our audiovisual world (such as the visually, aurally or cognitively impaired, language learners, the elderly etc.) are demanding and getting their just rights as audiovisual citizens.

The media itself is also getting more complex, with more forms interacting (e.g. YouTube clips on Facebook, surtitling in smart phones or glasses, cinema releases reappearing on streaming sites, interactive displays at museums etc.). Media has also become democratized, with more prosumer creating, and translating, their own content.

Furthermore, AVT and MA research is becoming ever more complex, as we search for understanding, not only by descriptive, text-centred studies, but also through experimental, viewer-centred studies using ever more complex methods (such as eyetracking, EEG, skin conductivity and fMRI scans). Understanding audiovisual content and impact has never been more important in this increasingly polarized world.

 

This conference was about creating and mediating understanding in an increasingly complex mediascape. Understanding not only of audiovisual content, but also understanding of and between producers, consumers and prosumers, understanding for the technical and cognitive processes involved, understanding for consumers’ needs and desires, and understanding of and for working conditions, among many other perspectives. So, let’s get together to understand all these complexities!

 

Book of Abstracts M4A8 in 2019 (4635 Kb)

Content (the pdf is bookmarked):

– Maps

– Committees:

  • Advisory Board
  • Local Organizing Committee (see Contact below as well)
  • TransMedia Research Group

– Sponsors and Supporting Organizations

– Programme (old version – updated version below)

– Abstracts day by day:

  • Workshops
  • Sessions
  • Poster presentations

– Bio notes

 

Please note that the Book of Abstracts contains an older version of the programme. The last updated version is available here, as a seperate pdf file. (Please note that the links in the programme file are no longer working.)

Programme M4A8 in 2019 (434 Kb)

 

Videos from live streaming sessions

Three videos are available from three sessions at the conference.

  • Vice-chancellor Astrid Söderbergh Widding and Keynote speaker Jan-Louis Kruger.
  • Tuesday 18 June 2019.
  • Auditorium Aula Magna, Stockholm University (Sweden).
  • Keynote speaker and chair: Agnieszka Szarkowska
  • Wednesday 19 June 2019
  • Auditorium Aula Magna, Stockholm University (Sweden).
  • Chair: Jorge Díaz Cintas
  • Wednesday June 2019
  • Auditorium Aula Magna, Stockholm University (Sweden).
 

Contact

Earlier and future Media for All conferences

Local Organizing Committee:

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