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Article published In: Babel
Vol. 67:5 (2021) ► pp.579–598

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Looking at redefining sex(uality)

Reinforcing sexual references in the Spanish dubbing of Looking

 | University of Granada
Published online: 29 September 2021
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.00240.urq
Abstract
This article examines the dubbing of the 2014 American gay-themed series Looking and its treatment of sexual references into Castilian Spanish with a view to exploring the role of audiovisual translation in the discursive construction of homosexuality. While some scholars have decried a historical tendency in translation to attenuate or even suppress references in connection with non-normative sex, the dubbing of Looking, I claim, amplifies these references by way of two strategies: up-scaling and increased explicitness. Drawing upon Munday, Jeremy. 2012. Evaluation in Translation: Critical Points of Translator Decision-Making. Abingdon and New York: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar concept of “evaluation” and on appraisal theory as expounded by Martin, James R., and Peter R. R. White. 2005. The Language of Evaluation: Appraisal in English. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, I aim at revealing the significance of the translator’s lexicogrammatical selections and how these may alter the semiotic import of the characters and, thus, of a certain portrayal of homosexuality. Additionally, such choices may be indicative of the translator’s own stance towards issues of sexuality. Though the strategies analyzed may appear to perpetuate commonplaces regarding gay sexual experience, they ultimately serve, I argue, as a device to generate a language that goes beyond diluted expressions of homosexuality.
Résumé
Cet article examine le doublage vers l’espagnol castillan de la série américaine de thématique gay Looking. “Looking for Now,” “Looking for Uncut,” “Looking at your Browser History,” Episodes 1, 2 and 3 respectively. Created by Michael Lannan. United States: Fair Harbor Productions, 2014.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar et son traitement des références sexuelles avec pour objectif d’explorer le rôle de la traduction audiovisuelle dans la construction discursive de l’homosexualité. Alors que certains spécialistes ont dénoncé une tendance historique de la traduction à atténuer, voire à supprimer, les références au sexe non normatif, le doublage de Looking, amplifie ces références par le biais de deux stratégies : « up-scaling » et l’explicitation accrue. En m’appuyant sur le concept d’« evaluation » de Munday, Jeremy. 2012. Evaluation in Translation: Critical Points of Translator Decision-Making. Abingdon and New York: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar et sur la théorie de l’appraisal exposée par Martin, James R., and Peter R. R. White. 2005. The Language of Evaluation: Appraisal in English. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, l’objectif est de révéler la signification des sélections lexicogrammiques faites par le traducteur ou la traductrice et de montrer comment celles-ci peuvent modifier la portée sémiotique des personnages et, ainsi, une certaine représentation de l’homosexualité. De plus, de tels choix peuvent indiquer la position du traducteur ou de la traductrice vis-à-vis de la sexualité. Bien que les stratégies analysées puissent sembler perpétuer des lieux communs en ce qui concerne les expériences sexuelles gaies, elles servent finalement de dispositifs permettant de générer un langage qui dépasse les expressions édulcorées de l’homosexualité.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • The language of sex as a “critical point” of “evaluation”
  • Up-scaling attitudes towards sex(uality)
  • Increasing sexual explicitness
  • Final remarks: Translation and intervention
  • Notes
  • References
References (24)
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Cited by (2)

Cited by two other publications

张, 瑞雪
2024. Review of Translation Studies form the Perspective of Appraisal Theory (from 2005 to 2023). Modern Linguistics 12:10 ► pp. 605 ff. DOI logo
Villanueva-Jordán, Iván
2023. Audiovisual Translation, Multilingual Desire, and the Construction of the Intersectional Gay Male Body. Languages 8:2 ► pp. 105 ff. DOI logo

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