ABSTRACT
This chapter begins within the bounds of traditional understandings of translation, i.e. the interlingual transmission of meaning, as applied to song lyrics in audiovisual texts. It looks at the medium of the music video, and secondly at popular music in film and television. The chapter discusses the different types of audiovisual music translation practice: the intralingual translation of song lyrics, and broader understandings of music and translation, e.g. the recycling of popular music in different audiovisual contexts, the role of popular music in the 'translation' of cultures and identity. It explains research methods in the study of popular music translation and suggests avenues for future research. The interface between audiovisual translation (AVT) and popular music is an area of study with increasingly—perhaps surprisingly—broad implications for contemporary global society and digital culture, as well as for the field of translation studies itself. From an AVT perspective, popular music offers far more than just lyrics.
