Discourses of Migration in Documentary Film: Translating the Real to the Reel

This book proposes a new approach to the study of discourse in documentary film. It considers discourse as a basic factor of translation (as well as contexts, agents, and practices) and draws on the parallels between the disciplines of translating and documentary making to perform a discourse analysis of documentaries centering on migration. By relying on the concept of translation as a heuristic tool, the author highlights the discursive mechanisms of 18 documentaries on Latin American migration shown in the United States by the Public Broadcasting Service series POV between 1996 and 2018. This interdisciplinary approach facilitates a holistic analysis of documentary film discourse, while also raising awareness of positive discourses of migration. The book will be of interest to students and scholars involved in the study of discourse, translation, documentary, television, and migration.