Wie viel Dialekt für welches Zielpublikum? - Dialekt in italienischen und deutschen Spielfilmen und in den entsprechenden Synchronversionen

This paper deals with some aspects of translation strategies concerning linguistic varieties, namely dialects and regional varieties. According to a recent proposal by A. Pym (2000), such strategies can be narrowed down to two main options: Parody and Creation of Linguistic Authenticity. Starting from this polarity, which is still not sufficiently discussed by translation scholars, we will present relevant evidence by systematically analyzing dialect dialogues in Italian and German films and their dubbed versions. We will focus on the functions of dialects in a form of communication that must ensure comprehensibility standards for a broad audience and comply to expectations resulting from specific film genres (in our case mostly comedy). Our examples are extracted from the FORLIXT 1 data base (presently containing 30 films), a resource in which users can constantly check interactions between linguistic and all other audiovisual features and communication elements (such as accent, intonation, gestures, body language, visual cultural items etc.). With regard to their distance/proximity to either option mentioned by Pym, translation strategies will be discussed both in the treatment of linguistic and conversational microstructures and in dealing with relevant semiotic aspects of situations. Can these two categories really account for all proposable interpretations? Which aspects must be included in to the analysis when it moves down from the general field of linguistic variation and into specific domains of regional varieties and dialects within a given linguistic and cultural space (German and Italian)? Which additional issues arise when regiolects and dialects are built into film dialogues? On a more methodological level we are going to discuss questions concerning the representativity of linguistic data and the complexity of situations in which they are embedded. Our aim is to discuss through data driven considerations how far and deep situations can be analysed when one tries to establish if original versions are correctly decoded and how satisfactory their translation is