Gender Representations in Original and Translated Audiovisual Products for Children in Turkish: A Corpus- based Study i

This study focuses on gender representations of the cartoons at the intersection of audiovisual translation and translating for children. In parallel with the expansion of audiovisual translation, the growing diversity and accessibility of gender representations have brought into the question of what is being presented to children. Both original and translated audiovisual products teach certain gender roles to the child receiver, who is exposed to the pervasive nature of media consumption. Adopting the perspective of a corpus-based study in translation studies, this study investigates gender representations in original and translated cartoons on two widely viewed and preferred digital TV channels broadcasting in Türkiye, namely TRT Çocuk and Disney Channel Türkiye. With a target child receiver age range of 3–11, thirty cartoons aired on these digital TV channels between 2015 and 2021 were selected as the dual corpus of this study. The basic surmise is that children of the studied age are subjected to both types of products, taking in gender identity roles from two sources, produced in multiple different cultures. So, the aim is to identify what kind of gender roles children are exposed to through audiovisual products and whether there are any similar or conflicting images and messages. The method proposed by Abigail Walsh & Campbell Leaper (2020) and the activity categorization of Andrée Michel (1986) have been employed to identify gender representations on the original cartoons on the TRT Çocuk channel and the translated foreign cartoons of Disney Channel Türkiye. The analysis yielded relative rates on the basis of the following factors: the number of characters, talkativeness, speech behavior (support or suggestion), aggressive behavior, activities, and appearance. In conclusion, this study reveals that both the original and translated audiovisual products perpetuate numerous gender stereotypes, with limited variation in character number, appearance, or talking time, but notable differences in speech behavior and activity patterns. Institutional and editorial gatekeeping in translation choices reinforces existing gender schemas rather than broadening children’s exposure to diverse gender roles.