Fictional gay men and gayspeak in Twenty-First Century british drama

This research lies in the field of Language and Sexuality Studies, and examines how playwrights have characterised fictional gay men in 21st century British drama. It analyses a corpus of 61 plays staged between 2000 and 2020, portraying 187 gay male characters. This work explores the corpus from three different perspectives and in the light of methodological triangulation, proceeding from the general to the particular. It starts with a brief excursus on 20th and 21st century British drama portraying gay characters, considering stage censorship and the laws regulating gay rights in the UK. General trends in the representation of homosexuality in 21st century British drama are traced diachronically. The second section investigates how the 187 fictional gay men in the corpus are characterised in present-day British drama. The gay characters are classified using variables common to all sociolinguistic studies – e.g. age, social class, linguistic variety – but also variables specific to Language and Sexuality Studies, such as the level of secrecy/out-of-theclosetedness and their own version of gayspeak. The final section takes an eclectic approach, and provides a multi-faceted picture of the fictional gayspeak included in the corpus. The variety is analysed both manually and taking a corpus-assisted approach using the software #Lancsbox. Based on previous research, a linguistic framework for analysing present-day fictional gayspeak is presented. The main aim of this section is to assess whether the features of gayspeak examined in past studies (see Sonenschein, 1969; Stanley, 1970; Lakoff, 1975; Hayes, 1976; Zwicky, 1997; Harvey, 1998, 2000, 2002, to name a few) are still found in the corpus. This thesis contributes to the existing literature for at least three reasons: (a) to my knowledge and belief, there is no academic research on British drama that deals exclusively with the portrayal of gay characters in the last twenty years; (b) there are, to my knowledge, no recent academic studies reassessing the purely linguistic features of gayspeak; (c) thirdly, this study intends to contribute to the field of Language and Sexuality Studies by applying also the methodologies of Corpus Linguistics, which is still relatively rare in this field of research

“Reading Is What? Fundamental!”: Reversed (im)politeness in RuPaul’s Drag Race

Reading is a drag term that refers to the common practice among drag queens of “confronting someone with witty and creative language that serves to cut or put someone down” (Jones 2007: 83). Linguistically, it can be considered a form of impoliteness aimed at attacking the addressee’s positiveself-image (Brown and Levinson 1987; Culpeper 1996 and 2011). Nevertheless, this study is based onthe assumption that drag impoliteness does not divide but unites members of the drag community by establishing “ambivalent solidarity” (Harvey 1998) and entertaining audiences. A small corpus containing transcripts of the reading mini-challenges in RuPaul’s Drag Race (2009-ongoing) will beexamined quantitatively and qualitatively, either manually or using #LancsBox, a new generation software for the analysis of digitalised texts developed at Lancaster University. Impoliteness among drag queens is thus not to be seen negatively, as the (im)politeness system – similarly to other linguistic features of drag lingo – is reversed in comparison to what happens in the heteronormative society. The better a drag queen is at inventing impolite expressions, the more successful and respected she will be. It should be borne in mind that this study investigates a fictional representation of drag lingo, and that impoliteness, as used in telecinematic discourse, serves other purposes when compared to reality (Dynel 2017; Lorenzo-Dus 2009). Therefore, any generalisation should be made carefully

«Reinas unidas jamás serán vencidas»: drag queens en las voces superpuestas en español peninsular de RuPaul’s Drag Race

RuPaul’s Drag Race (2009 – present) is an American reality television programme launched by RuPaul Charles, which has turned drag queens into a mainstream phenomenon. After briefly analysing the controversial figure of the drag queen in the light of Judith Butler’s performative turn, as well as drag lingo following Keith Harvey’s framework for identifying camp talk, this research aims at investigating the European Spanish voice-over of Seasons 8 (2016), 9 (2017) and 10 (2018). This work seeks primarily to analyse the choices that are made in the target text to characterise drag queens in the localised European Spanish version available on Netflix. The translation procedures mentioned in this study are partly adapted from Ranzato’s (2015) classification for culture-specific references. The analysis focuses mainly on the creative rendering of (semi-)homophony, drag terms, references to pop culture and grammatical gender.RuPaul’s Drag Race (2009 – hoy) es un programa de telerrealidad y competición estadounidense conducido por RuPaul Charles, que ha convertido a las drag queens en un fenómeno mainstream. Después de analizar brevemente la figura controvertida de la drag queen a la luz del concepto de performatividad de Judith Butler, así como el drag lingo en relación al modelo establecido por Keith Harvey para identificar el camp talk, este artículo se centrará en el análisis del voice-over en español ibérico de las temporadas 8 (2016), 9 (2017) y 10 (2018). Se intentará analizar primariamente las decisiones tomadas por lor traductores para caracterizar lingüísticamente a las drag queens en la versión española disponible en Netflix. Las estrategias de traducción mencionadas en este artículo están parcialmente adaptadas a partir de una clasificación de Ranzato (2015) en su estudio sobre la traducción de las referencias culturales, y se centrarán en la reproducción creativa de la (semi-)homofonía, los términos drag, las referencias a la cultura pop y el género gramatical

“Sunt! That’s French with a cedilla!” Subtitling and dubbing The Boys in the Band into Italian

Voice is one of the means through which fictional people are characterised in audiovisual products. Through their voice, characters reveal their thoughts and personalities, including external and internal elements, such as their age, geographical and social origins, gender and sexuality, among others. The linguistic variety analysed in this article is the audiovisual fictional representation of gayspeak, which is used to index characters’ homosexuality. This is a case study that focuses on the subtitling and dubbing of the 2020 Netflix adaptation of The Boys in the Band, which is an American drama film based on the homonymous play written by Mart Crowley in 1968; it can be considered a seminal work for gay literature, in that it is allegedly one of the first plays to address homosexuality openly, something that had never been seen before. The original script in English, the Italian subtitles and the script of the Italian dubbing will be analysed in parallel, with particular attention to some scenes which will be selected and discussed on the basis of their relevance in the use of gayspeak and its translation. This research focuses on the excerpts that creatively deviate from the original text, at least in one of the two audiovisual modalities analysed.

“We Work Hard, We Play Hard!”—Fictional Gayspeak in the Italian Dubbing of “The Simpsons”: A Queer Audiovisual Translation Study

Despite being an animated sitcom, The Simpsons is a satire of contemporary American society and culture. This article intends to apply a queer perspective to Audiovisual Translation Studies, in line with what Flotow (2019) defined the third approach to gender-focused audiovisual translation, that is, the investigation of gay and queer source texts and their treatment in the target text. This study deals with the process of sexualisation of fictional gay men through fictional gayspeak. The analysis focuses on excerpts where the Italian dubbing departs from the original, and the strategies that have been used to reproduce gayspeak into Italian. The investigation rests on the idea that translation is a gender-constructing activity implying the queering of the target text, which is a process that varies from language to language

Session 20. Dubbing and voice-over

'Netflix's bet on English dubbing: turning quantity into quality?' / Sofía Sánchez-Mompeán (University of Murcia) ; 'Amateur dubbing and humour to promote wellbeing. An innovative project for hospitalized children and adolescents' / Margherita Dore (Sapienza University of Rome), Laura Vagnoli(Paediatric Hospital Psychology Unit, AOU Meyer), Francesca Addarii (Paediatric Hospital Psychology Unit, AOU Meyer), Elena Amore (Paediatric Hospital Psychology Unit, AOU Meyer) ; ''Reinas unidas, jamás serán vencidas'. Characterisation of drag queens in the Spanish voice-over of RuPaul's Drag Race' / Davide Passa (Sapienza University of Rome) ; 'Overcoming challenges to accuracy in news voiceover translation in Japan's international English-language TV broadcasts' / David Heath (Kanto Gakuin University) , Rodrigue Belmonte (Television director and producer), Stephen Crabbe (University of Portsmouth). Chair: Gian Maria Grec

“Santa mozzarella!”: The construction of Italianness in Luca (Disney and Pixar, 2021)

Eighty-one years after Pinocchio (1940), Walt Disney and Pixar are back with a new animated film set entirely in Italy, Luca (2021). It is a coming-of-age story based on a deep friendship between two sea monster boys and a human girl from Portorosso, an imaginary sea coastal town in the Cinque Terre (Liguria), in the nostalgic mid-1950s. This study intends to investigate the construction of Italianness in the film on the visual and acoustic levels. First, this article will briefly examine the visual representation of Italian people, objects and traditions that contribute to the overall construction of fictional Italianness in the film. Then, the fictional language used to characterise the inhabitants of Portorosso to distinguish them from the sea monsters will be examined in more detail; this will be done by analysing code-switching instances, where Italianisms will be included in four different categories. Unlike Pinocchio, Luca’s producers have created an artificial code that is of particular interest to researchers in the field of Sociolinguistics and Audiovisual Studies. This study will mainly focus on the construction of identity and Kozloff’s functions of film dialogues. In the final sections of the article, which will analyse code-switching, Brown and Levinson’s impoliteness theory will also be addressed

“Sunt! That’s French with a cedilla!”- Subtitling and Dubbing The Boys in the Band into Italian

Voice is one of the means through which fictional people are characterised in audiovisual products. Through their voice characters reveal their thoughts and personalities, including external and internal elements, such as their age, geographical and social origins, gender and sexuality, among others. The linguistic variety analysed in this article is the audiovisual fictional representation of gayspeak, which is used to index characters’ homosexuality. This is a case study that focuses on the subtitling and dubbing of the 2020 Netflix adaptation of The Boys in the Band, which is an American drama film based on the homonymous play written by Mart Crowley in 1968; it can be considered a seminal work for gay literature, in that it is allegedly one of the first plays to address homosexuality openly, something that had never been seen before. The original script in English, the Italian subtitles and the script of the Italian dubbing will be analysed in parallel, with particular attention to some scenes which will be selected and discussed on the basis of their relevance in the use of gayspeak and its translation. This research focuses on the excerpts that creatively deviate from the original text, at least in one of the two audiovisual modalities analysed

"You all are sisters! We are all family!" The construction of parenthood in 'RuPaul's Drag Race'

Drag queens epitomise gender fluidity, where the heteronormative binarism male/female is blurred and parodied. Their unconventional nature is reflected in the structure of their community, where they have created alternatives to the heteronormative family, which is historically based on heterosexual marriage and parenthood. Drag families are to be seen as places of personal and financial support, a refuge for young gay men who have been rejected by their “real” families and have financial problems. This study seeks to give prominence to the construction of parenthood in RuPaul’s Drag Race (2009-2021) by analysing the discourse – i. e. the system of statements – around drag family, parenthood and sisterhood in a corpus of 174 episodes. The research is carried out in the light of Corpus Linguistics, with the use of #Lancsbox, a software for the analysis of language data and corpora

"Sissy that talk!" - RuPaul's Drag Race Online Virality and Cartoon Series

This book aims at investigating the evolution of English culture and literature in the contemporary society through a Cultural Studies perspective devoted to the analysis of literary texts, pop music, TV shows and series, comics, videogames, and advertisements. The book’s approach denounces the use of arbitrary definitions in terms of class, gender, ethnicity, and sexuality in a post-modern society, as well as any kind of cultural and identity discrimination. In this context, the Cultural Studies perspective makes popular culture a liberating practice in which meaning is not imposed but continually negotiated. Similarly, the current post-modern, post-national, and post-human society creates new paradigms and forms of cultural exchange and debate