Reception Studies and Audiovisual Translation

Reception studies in audiovisual translation have seen a surge in recent years, thanks to an increased awareness of the need to understand the audience and their needs, to encompass them in the very creation of new content in AVT and media accessibility. This chapter offers an overview of the concept of audience as has been studied from a variety of approaches that converge onto the multifarious domain of reception studies. Subsequently, it surveys historical approaches to audience research from an AVT perspective, focusing on changes in the audience composition and preferences but also on the evolution of audience-centred research. Moving onto the methodologies and tools for reception studies in AVT today, the chapter discusses a host of recent and not-so-recent studies, focusing on the methodology used and the results obtained. A series of reflections on the future of reception research in AVT and on the potential advantages as well as the risks involved in disciplinary hybridization close the discussion.