The Italian Dubbing of Dialects, Accents and Slang in the British Dark Comedy Drama Misfits

Although they are far from reflecting real interaction stricto sensu, TV series try to recreate a sort of idealised community. In order to do this, the language they use is based on those communicative patterns that are deemed prototypical for a given social group. It is therefore not surprising to find that stereotyped language variations are exploited in audiovisual texts to mark differences in social status. In particular, British TV dramas and films have often relied on such strategies to enhance dramatic characterisation. The British dark comedy drama Misfits proves to be an interesting example of the way British dialects, accents and slang are used to characterise its five young main characters. Each of them displays a peculiar accent, which reflects their social and personal background, yet they all also use contemporary slang that shows their willingness to be part of the same social group representing young people of all backgrounds. When dealing with such linguistic peculiarities, translators may resort to global strategies such as standardization to ensure the smooth processing of the target text, or opt for more creative solutions instead. Hence, this study investigates the strategies and procedures used to transfer Misfits into Italian. The comparative analysis of the English source text and its dubbed Italian counterpart shows that the characters’ dialectal inflections have been replaced by standardised pronunciation. It goes without saying that this has led to significant losses in terms of connotation. However, the translator has attempted to compensate by means of a consistent use of Italian slang and swear words to convey the in-group bonding that such linguistic elements can create

Introduction: Exploring the Many Ways of Audiovisual Translation. Retranslated, Simultaneous, Indirect, Mediated or What?

Over the last decade, a growing number of Translation Studies scholars has focused on the many aspects of AVT, as demonstrated by the proliferation of research papers in journals, essay collections and monographs devoted to this topic (e.g. Chiaro 2007; Díaz Cintas 2012; Chaume, 2012; Pérez González 2014, 2018; Maszerowska, Matamala and Orero 2014; Di Giovanni and Gambier 2018; Baños 2018 just to name a few). This has certainly enabled AVT to develop “its very own theoretical and methodological approaches, allowing it to claim the status of a scholarly area of research in its own right” (Díaz-Cintas 2009: 7). One of the interesting consequences of the rapid advances in the production of audiovisual content and the availability of its many translated versions (e.g. dubbed, (fan)subtitled, in respeaking or audio-described) is that the traditional separation between ‘dubbing’ and ‘subtitling’ countries by now appears obsolete (Gambier 2003; Chaume 2013; Sandrelli, this volume). It is probably time we overcame “the frequently futile debate over the pros and cons of dubbing and subtitling, generally simplified to subjective and pseudo-intellectual arguments” (Chaume 2012: 13). Scholarly research on AVT may fare better at exploring the intricacies and resulting phenomena that the current mediascape brings about so as to continue to contribute fruitfully to the advances in theory and practice

Lo stand-up comedy nel contesto interculturale

Come in molti altri Paesi europei, l’Italia ha di recente sviluppato un enorme interesse nei confronti dello stand-up comedy di stile anglosassone. Comici professionisti e non si esibiscono in teatri più o meno grandi durante tutto l’anno e in diverse parti del Paese. La maggior parte di questi artisti scrive i propri spettacoli e si esibisce in italiano ma vi sono alcuni comici di madrelingua inglese, o che parlano bene questa lingua, che hanno deciso di creare eventi di stand-up quasi interamente in questa lingua. Il presente lavoro si prefigge pertanto di esplorare questo fenomeno concentrandosi in particolare sugli spettacoli del Rome’s Comedy Club a cui partecipano costantemente alcuni comici, mentre altri sono invitati come parte del loro tour internazionale. L’analisi mostra che l’umorismo di questi spettacoli si basi perlopiù su stereotipi riguardanti la cultura italiana, gli italiani e la vita degli stranieri in Italia (differenze culturali, identità, ecc.). Inoltre, e cosa più importante, il modo in cui i comici e il pubblico gestiscono gli scambi umoristici sembra reggersi su una strategia comune. I primi cercano di garantire il successo della propria performance interagendo con, e testando continuamente, il secondo riguardo ad argomenti spesso controversi e sensibili (morte, scatologia ecc.). Anche nei momenti in cui i commenti dei comici denigrano apertamente uno o più componenti del pubblico, quest’ultimo non si offende e accetta di conformarsi allo spirito dell’evento a cui ha scelto di partecipare

New simple and low-cost methods for periodic checks of Cyclone® Plus Storage Phosphor System

The recent large use of the Cyclone® Plus Storage Phosphor System, especially in European countries, as imaging system for quantification of radiochemical purity of radiopharmaceuticals raised the problem of setting the periodic controls as required by European Legislation. We described simple, low-cost methods for Cyclone® Plus quality controls, which can be useful to evaluate the performance measurement of this imaging system

Session 16. Poster session

The audio description of humour in English and Italian / Margherita Dore (Sapienza University of Rome) ; Professional practices in AVT revision: a Ph.D. project / Rita Menezes (University of Lisbon); Information on sounds and speaker identification in subtitle for the deaf and hard of hearing on Brazilian Netflix and DVDspierre / Alexandra Frazão Seoane (State University of Ceará), Vera Lúcia Santiago Araújo (State University of Ceará) ; Investigating a multidimensional framework for subtitling quality / Gian Maria Greco (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Universidade de Vigo & POIESIS), Zoe Moores (Universities of Roehampton and Surrey); Chair: Nazaret Fresno (The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley)The audio description of humour in English and Italian / Margherita Dore (Sapienza University of Rome). This video presentation is not available in open access. Only the abstract is available

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

Two naphthalene degrading bacteria belonging to the genera Paenibacillus and Pseudomonas isolated from a highly polluted lagoon perform different sensitivities to the organic and heavy metal contaminants

Two bacterial strains were isolated in the presence of naphthalene as the sole carbon and energy source from sediments of the Orbetello Lagoon, Italy, which is highly contaminated with both organic compounds and metals. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis of the two isolates assigned the strains to the genera Paenibacillus and Pseudomonas. The effect of different contaminants on the growth behaviors of the two strains was investigated. Pseudomonas sp. ORNaP2 showed a higher tolerance to benzene, toluene, and ethylbenzene than Paenibacillus sp. ORNaP1. In addition, the toxicity of heavy metals potentially present as co-pollutants in the investigated site was tested. Here, strain Paenibacillus sp. ORNaP1 showed a higher tolerance towards arsenic, cadmium, and lead, whereas it was far more sensitive towards mercury than strain Pseudomonas sp. ORNaP2. These differences between the Gram-negative Pseudomonas and the Gram-positive Paenibacillus strain can be explained by different general adaptive response systems present in the two bacteria

Transfeminine Identity and HIV/AIDS in Audiovisual Translation Dallas Buyers Club and its Italian Subtitled Versions

The scope of this study is twofold. On the one hand, we seek to investigate the way gender roles are negotiated and how the transgender feminine identity is (re)affirmed within a difficult health context such as HIV/AIDS. We examine how issues such as homosexuality, sickness due to HIV/AIDS and identity are developed and constantly negotiated by the two main characters, Ron Woodroof and Rayon. Their language, the way it develops throughout their friendship and how it shapes their need to assert their own identities is investigated in all three datasets. On the other hand, the comparison of the two Italian TTs seeks to shed light on how professional and amateur subtitlers have tackled gayness, transgenderism and linguistic issues such as camp talk (or gayspeak in Heyes’ terminology, 1976/2006, quoted in Ranzato, 2012, p. 371), which has been defined as “a product of the gay sensibility” (Babuscio, 1993). Surprisingly, the fansubbed TT proves to be more censored than the official subtitled version, despite the general assumption that fansubbing tends to be freer and more prone to subverting conventions (Bogucki, 2009; Dwyer, 2017). All in all, both TTs appear to use a sanitising approach to homosexual language, yet the official version seems more creative than the amateur one

Multilingual humour in audiovisual translation. Modern Family dubbed in Italian

Audiovisual productions are increasingly featuring multi-ethnic communities which also reflect today’s globalised world. Characters in both films and TV series are often depicted as having a bilingual background and heavily relying on code-switching to express their bicultural identity (Monti 2016: 69). As such, this phenomenon poses important challenges for its translation, especially when dubbing is involved. Using this audiovisual translation (AVT) mode involves a necessary technical manipulation (Díaz-Cintas 2012: 284–285). As for Italian dubbing, multilingualism has often undergone a process of neutralization (Pavesi 2005: 56) or local standardization (Ulrych 2000: 410), although recent dubbed films have proved to be geared towards a more faithful rendering of this important feature of the source text (Monti 2016: 90). It should be borne in mind that contextual factors, such as genres, may play a fundamental role in deciding whether to retain or neutralise multilingualism in AVT, especially when it is used for humorous purposes. In those cases, the perlocutionary function of the ST should be considered (Hickey 1998; cf. also Zabalbeascoa 2012: 322). Comedy can make use of multilingualism to entertain and the American mockumentary (or docucomedy) Modern Family (Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan, 2009–2019), is a striking example in this sense. It follows the lives of Jay Pritchett and his family in suburban Los Angeles. Linguistically speaking, the most interesting character is Jay’s second wife Gloria Delgado, a young and beautiful Colombian woman who often code-switches or code-mixes English and Spanish (with a marked Colombian accent), thus creating moments of pure comedy. Hence, this study investigates how Gloria’s humorous and multilingual persona has been transferred into Italian. The analysis confirms the current tendency of Italian dubbing to render otherness in the TT (Monti 2016: 89). This may be justified by the genre and scope of the programme, that allow for a more innovative transfer of vernacular matching via what I propose to call functional manipulation

Review of: Petrocchi, Valeria (2004) "Tipologie Traduttive".

Il libro di Valeria Petrocchi si divide in due parti. La prima parte mira ad uno studio comparato delle uniche due traduzioni italiane del Joseph Andrews di Hanry Fielding da parte di Giovan Antonio Pedrini e Giorgio Melchiori. La seconda parte analizza la traduzione della trasposizione cinematografica di Alan Dent e Sir Laurence Oliver dell'opera sheakespeariana Hamlet . L'approccio metodologico utilizzato viene definito dall'autrice del libro di tipo 'psicobiografico', cioè basato sull'analisi del periodo storico e socioculturale in cui ognuna di queste opere fu portata a termine. È infatti convinzione di Petrocchi che questi fattori, insieme a quelli prettamente personali, giochino un ruolo fondamentale nelle scelte operate dal traduttore (p.11). In quest'ottica quindi il titolo stesso del libro intende porre l'accento sulle cause contingenti che fanno sì che un testo tradotto si sviluppi e possa essere definito all'interno di una chiara tipologia