Fictional TV series are a flourishing genre and they often include songs which are embedded in the thread of the story. These songs may appear in each episode as theme songs, as an accompaniment to credits, as background music or simply as songs which are seemingly disconnected from the narration or the dialogues, etc. The songs may be of various lengths, feature live or off-camera performances and be distinct from or overlap with the dialogue.
Given this broad range of possibilities and the fact that song translation is still a largely unexplored area in audiovisual translation, I propose to examine a number of songs included in some recent fictional TV series (see below) to first determine the nature of these songs and then their significance and impact on the viewer. Do they contribute to the environment of a given scene? Do they set the mood? Do they enhance or intensify the emotional impact? I conclude by examining the connections that may or may not exist between these functions and the translation modalities and strategies used in each case, that is, subtitling, dubbing or even non-translation.
The presentation will be illustrated with examples from Grey’s Anatomy, Nip/Tuck, South Park, and Flight of the Conchords.

Lydia BRUGUÉ BOTIA obtained a degree in Translation and Interpreting at the University of Vic, Barcelona, in 2000 and became a sworn interpreter in that same year, obtaining her master’s degree in Conference Interpreting in 2001. She received an Honourable Mention at the 3rd Andreu Febrer Translation Award, University of Vic, 1999. She has been a lecturer of Translation and Interpreting at this university since 2003, and a freelance translator since 2000, with a specialisation in scientific translation and literary translation. She is also professor of the Linguistic Mediation Courses organised by Vic university, where she is now working on a doctoral thesis on song functionality and translation modalities in recent fictional TV series.