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- Diatopic variation in Portugal: notes on European Portuguese dialectsPublication . Martins, CláudiaLanguages can vary considerably according to several factors, namely geographical, social or pragmatic. This paper shall focus on diatopic or geolinguistic variation of European Portuguese, the overall designation that encompasses the dialects spoken both in mainland Portugal and in the islands of Azores and Madeira, as well as by the immigrants scattered through Europe. Starting from the discussion of the dichotomy language versus dialect, we will present the various linguistic atlases designed by Leite de Vasconcelos, Paiva Boléo and Lindley Cintra. Based on Lindley Cintra’s new proposal from 1971, the main isoglosses in Portugal shall be presented and explained in order to allow the distinction of the Galician, the northern Portuguese and the mid-southern Portuguese dialects, the latter being where the islands are included. A final word shall be directed to the Mirandese, the second official language in Portugal.
- Lost in migration: Mirandese at a crossroadsPublication . Martins, Cláudia; Ferreira, SérgioThe linguistic rights of Mirandese were enshrined in Portugal in 1999, though its “discovery” dates back to the very end of the 19th century at the hands of Leite de Vasconcellos (1900, 1901). For centuries, it was the first or only language spoken by people living in the northeast of Portugal, particularly the district of Miranda do Douro. As a minority language, it has always moved among three dimensions. On the one hand, the need to assert and defend this language and have it acknowledged by the country, which proudly believe(d) in their monolingual history. Unavoidably, this has ensued the action of translation, especially active from the mid of the 20th century onwards (Ferreira & Martins 2016), with an emphasis on the translation of the Bible and Portuguese canonical literature, as well as other renown literary forms (e.g. The Adventures of Asterix). Finally, the third axis lies in migration, either within Portugal or abroad. Between the 1950s and the 1960s, Mirandese people were forced to leave Miranda do Douro and villages in the outskirts in the thousands (i.e. Simões, Portela & Cepeda 1996). They fled not only due to the deeply entrenched poverty, but also the almost complete absence of future prospects, enhanced by the fact that they were regarded as not speaking “good” Portuguese, but rather a “charra” language, and as ignorant backward people. This period coincided with the building of dams on the river Douro and the cultural and linguistic shock that stemmed from this forceful contact, which exacerbated their sense of not belonging and of social shame. Bearing all this in mind, we seek to approach the role that migration played not only in the assertion of Mirandese as a language in its own right, but also in the empowerment of new generations of Mirandese people, highly qualified and politically engaged in the defence of this minority language, some of whom former migrants. Thus, we aim to depict Mirandese’s political situation before and after the endorsement of the Portuguese Law no. 7/99 (Martins 2002).
- Vozes que se veem, imagens que se leemPublication . Martins, CláudiaA Tradução Audiovisual (TAV) como disciplina que se tem vindo a autonomizar no âmbito dos Estudos de Tradução evoluiu de forma mais marcante ao longo das duas últimas décadas do século XX e novo milénio, abrangendo sucessivamente novas modalidades emergentes no contexto audiovisual e culminando no “guarda-chuva dinâmico” vaticinado por Orero (2004) ou na defesa de uma “tipologia textual superordenada” por parte de Díaz Cintas (2009). Assim, o que outrora foi designado por Gambier (2003) como as modalidades dominantes e inovadoras no âmbito da TAV há muito que galgou as fronteiras da inovação e se implementou no conjunto das práticas correntes desta disciplina. Relativamente ao contexto da inclusão de grupos minoritários, o que Neves designou em 2012 como os “serviços de acessibilidade”, incluem-se a legendagem para surdos e pessoas com incapacidade auditiva e a audiodescrição para cegos e pessoas com baixa visão. É através destas duas modalidades que o paradigma biopsicossocial se concretiza no contexto da TAV. A presente comunicação tem por objetivo sensibilizar os participantes para a centralidade destas modalidades audiovisuais na inclusão sensorial, explorando as suas potencialidades no que se refere aos públicos com e sem deficiência e incapacidade e explicitando os seus possíveis contextos de aplicação com exemplos de boas práticas tanto no contexto português, assim como no internacional.
- 21st century education: progress or doom?Publication . Martins, CláudiaThe reflection on teaching methods is as old as the hills and it has ensued the introduction of new strategies and methodological approaches, especially since the 17th century. A brief historical review of the primary methods since then enables us to realise the underlying, persistent thought in educators’ minds of all times that there must be a more complete, more perfect approach to provide pupils and students with success. Every new method presents itself as the ultimate answer for the painstaking question: how can we reach students and teach them something worthy of their future? Method after method, approach after approach dethrones the previous, proclaiming to the winds that it is the panacea for all evils and that a new dawn in education is to rise. However, we have yet to see this bright future of education. In the 1970s, it was the communicative approach; a couple of decades later, the project- and task-based approaches. From the beginning of the new millennium on, technology has again been hailed as the definitive response, that enlightened manner to get hold of students’ focus and lead them through avenues of budding success. It has been become fashionable to present studies, surveys and case studies on the miracle advantages of using twitter and akin technologies in the classroom, persuading us that we have finally found the answer. Nonetheless, various studies emphasise the harmful effects of the excessive use of screens, social networks and virtual reality. From our standpoint, this is a rather desperate attempt to use the same gadgets students do – and convince them that we are on the same side of the fence – though the truth is that we are no more than another brick on the wall and the bricks are tumbling down. Education may no longer be heading for progress but rather for doom. In our bewildered attempt to obey to the winds of change, we have become oblivious to the importance of high standards and quality, content and practice, of the human contact to establish the liaison between knowledge and feeling. Bearing in mind these considerations, our aim is thus to reflect upon the future of education and where it might lead us.
- Utopian views in literature and cinema: Laputa as depicted in Jonathan Swift and Hayao MiyazakiPublication . Martins, CláudiaThe Japanese animation director Hayao Miyazaki is renowned for his ability to build up imaginary worlds bound to make us fly by the seat of our pants, often based on existing books. These are the cases of “Howl’s moving castle” (1986) by Diana Wynne Jones and “Gulliver’s Travels” (1726) by Jonathan Swift: the former gave rise to the film bearing the same name dated from 2004 and the latter is entitled “Laputa: Castle in the sky” from 1986. Our attention will be focused on Laputa, the flying island that was first devised by Swift in the 18th century and an icon in utopian studies. Following Plato and his republic of philosophers, as well as Thomas More’s “Utopia” (1516), the search for the ‘no place’ or ‘paradise on earth’, as some authors uphold, is the underlying background for Swift’s book, whose main character encounters several fictional societies in the course of his travels. Swift set a society of scientists and social planners in Laputa, who end up disregarding the needs of those who lived underneath, on firm land, and setting out the model for dystopia, i.e. the ‘bad place’. Our aim is to compare Laputa as it was depicted by Swift (literature) and Miyazaki (cinema), bearing in mind this dialectic interaction between utopia and dystopia, so as to attempt to reach tentative conclusions.
- Fraseoparemiologia multilingue: uma ferramenta para o diálogo culturalPublication . Martins, Cláudia; Cardoso, Nazaré; Falcão, CecíliaO mundo atual assume-se como necessariamente multicultural e multilingue e educar alunos para este contexto implica muni-los de ferramentas que possibilitem e facilitem o diálogo cultural. Neste sentido, como professoras de línguas, entendemos a fraseoparemiologia como o material linguístico por excelência que reflete a riqueza e diversidade culturais de uma dada comunidade linguística. Enveredar por esta abordagem em sala de aula de língua (estrangeira ou materna) acarreta a reflexão sobre dimensões como a linguagem figurativa (versus linguagem literal), o continuum de idiomaticidade e fixidez, assim como a carga metafórica ou a força imagética destas estruturas. Desta forma, a motivação para este trabalho deriva não só da necessidade de integrar a reflexão sobre estas unidades fraseoparemiológicas, mas também de as trabalhar de uma forma sistemática e com uma organização onomaseológica. Com base numa abordagem de investigação-ação, temos como objetivo dar a conhecer o produto didático que se encontra em construção direcionado para a compilação de unidades fraseológicas e paremiológicas, atualmente em português, alemão, francês e inglês, e que abrange áreas temáticas tão diversas como os cinco sentidos, os animais ou o corpo humano. Pretendemos que este produto funcione como uma futura plataforma comum a ser usada por professores de línguas e alunos, potenciadora da sua motivação e facilitadora da sua aprendizagem, e que contribua igualmente para uma abordagem interdisciplinar entre unidades curriculares.
- Everyone speaks English, didn’t you know? – o ensino do inglês no ensino superior no nordeste transmontanoPublication . Martins, Cláudia; Cardoso, NazaréFollowing the Bologna Declaration (1999) and the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (2001), the teaching of foreign languages in higher education has changed dramatically. Thus, it becomes essential to ascertain the entry level of students and their profi ciency in English after the completion of Basic and Secondary Education. This initial assessment will have a bearing on the development of fi rst year classes, as well as on the following, more advanced levels of language. Our experience with language degrees at the School of Education of Bragança has shown us the considerable diffi culties students grapple with in order to complete a B2 level and proceed with their learning at C1 and C2 levels. This was our main reason for administering a questionnaire to all fi rst-year students in the academic year of 2015/2016 who were then learning English at our institution. Our aim was to attempt to understand the way students’ previous learning experience shaped their performance and motivation for learning English and fi nd out about infl uential informal learning contexts.
- Museum audio descriptionPublication . Martins, CláudiaAudio description for the blind and visually impaired has been around since people have described what is seen. Throughout time, it has evolved and developed within different media, starting with reality and daily life, moving into the cinema and television, then across other performing arts, museums and art galleries, and public places. Thus, academics and entertainment providers have developed a growing interest for audio description, especially in what concerns the best methods and strategies to make words/texts give life to visual texts. The motto is to “make images verbal” or, within museum contexts, to make art (and not only) come alive for those who do not actually see. To them enjoyment might mean to see things through words. This presentation will focus on this particular form of intersemiotic translation.
- Suddenly there was a tapping: Edgar Allan Poe in the dawning of speculative fictionPublication . Martins, CláudiaForty years of life were what this hallmark of American literature needed to break a number of boundaries in traditional fiction in the first half of the 19th century. Edgar Allan Poe is reputed to be the architect of the modern short story (cf. Dawson, 1909) and a forerunner of the “art for art’s sake” movement in America. According to the Poetry Foundation, Poe formulated strictly artistic ideals based on the calculated use of language through which he expressed a vision of truth and the essential condition of human condition. He rejected the effect of accident or inspiration in the making of both his fiction and poetry, but rather insisted that the tiniest detail should be the result of rational deliberation. As such, Poe wrote over 40 short stories encompassing several fictional types that contemporary critics refer to as speculative fiction. Different classifications have been proposed (e.g. Howarth, 1971; Quinn, 1997), but it is commonly accepted that Poe’s tales are divided into four different styles, ranging from horror to Gothic and science fiction to ratiocination. This paper claims that Poe “tapped on the window of fiction” and brought about major changes in the literary scene of the 19th century which would bear fruit in the 20th century. By analysing a number of his renowned tales, we intend to demonstrate the full extent of his refolution in the realm of short stories.
- Are audiodescribed visits for all?: notes on an accessibility project for contemporary artPublication . Martins, CláudiaTranslators have been given many names, from a “mere” intermediary between a source language/ culture and a target language/ culture to a universal access mediator (Neves, 2020). Mediation “between humans and the cultural heritage environment” (Deane-Cox, 2020) has grown exponentially in the last decades. Within Heritage Studies we speak of interpretation, which ultimate goal is to educate and engage, whereas, in Audiovisual Translation, we endorse the overthrow of obstacles that impede understanding, by enhancing access at various levels – from physical to communicational, from emotional to sensory (cf. Dodd & Sandell, 1998 & Sassaki, 2005). Therefore, this enhanced access aims also to inform in a customised manner, by means of a museum guide for the general public, for children, for the blind and visually-impaired, for the D/deaf and hard-of-hearing, among other audiences. Access in heritage seeks to enable visitors’ engagement and the use of their various senses, in order to create a meaningful and holistic experience that will remain in their memory. Regardless of the type of guide on offer, research has shown that access for all does not necessarily equal one different product/ equipment for each different group, but rather one that amasses the most diversified options in order to cater for as many people as possible. Thus, we aim to report on the project carried out at the Contemporary Art Centre Graça Morais, in Bragança, Portugal, where audiodescribed visits were created for the biannual temporary exhibitions with a view to heeding the needs of blind and visually-impaired patrons.