Audiovisual Translation Theory and Practice in Italy : the case of gangsterspeak in the Italian dubbing of Goodfellas and The Departed

Far from being two complementary aspects of the same reality, the theory and the practice of dubbing in Italy belong to two different worlds that very rarely meet up. On the one hand, since the beginning of the ‘90s the study of the process of dubbing has been the object of growing interest by Italian scholars, who usually infer their theories from empirical analyses of the dubbed products. On the other hand, dubbing professionals very rarely have received academic training and are often dismissive of theory. Therefore, there seems to exist a clear-cut dichotomy between the world of the theorists and that of the practitioners. In spite of this, Italian film translators seem to show a consistent translational behaviour. This paper will first outline the relationship between audiovisual theory and practice in Italy, and it will subsequently investigate the behaviour of translators in the specific case of gangster sociolect