The Dialects of British English in Fictional Texts

This collection brings together perspectives on regional and social varieties of British English in fictional dialogue across works spanning various literary genres, showcasing authorial and translation innovation while also reflecting on their impact on the representation of sociolinguistic polarities. 　 The volume explores the ways in which different varieties of British English, including Welsh, Scots, and Received Pronunciation, are portrayed across a range of texts, including novels, films, newspapers, television series, and plays. Building on metadiscourse which highlighted the growing importance of accent as an emblem of social stance in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the chapters in this book examine how popular textual forms create and reinforce links between accent and social persona, and accent and individual idiolect. A look at these themes, as explored through the lens of audiovisual translation and the challenges of dubbing, sheds further light on the creative resources authors and translators draw on in representing sociolinguistic realities through accent. This book will be of particular interest to students and scholars in dialectology, audiovisual translation, literary translation, and media studies. Table of Contents List of Contributors Introduction: The Dialects of British English in Fictional Texts: Style, Translation and Ideology Donatella Montini and Irene Ranzato, Sapienza Università di Roma Voices on page 1) Scots as the Language of the Uncanny: The Case of Nineteenth-Century Gothic Narratives Marina Dossena, Università degli Studi di Bergamo 2) Enregistering Nationhood: Cornwall and "Cornu-English" in the Works of Alan M. Kent Joan C. Beal, University of Sheffield 3) An Analysis of the Use of Vernacular in Sebastian Barry’s Days without End and Its Spanish and Italian Translations Josep Marco Borillo, Universitat Jaume I (Castelló, Spain) 　 Voices on stage 4) Shakespeare’s Multilingual Classrooms: Style, Stylisation and Linguistic Authority Donatella Montini, Sapienza Università di Roma 5) "Peden bras vidne whee bis cregas": Cornish on the Early Modern Stage Cristina Paravano, Università di Milano 6) "Aw’m Lancashire, owd cock, and gradely hearty": Enregistered Lancashire Voices in the Nineteenth-Century Theatre Javier Ruano-García, Universidad de Salamanca Voices on screen 7) Some Observations on British Accent Stereotypes in Hollywood-Style Films Patrick Zabalbeascoa, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona) 8) The Accented Voice in Audiovisual Shakespeare Irene Ranzato, Sapienza Università di Roma 9) Bastard of the North or Kingg uv th’ Nohrth? /ˈbɑː.stəd/ /frɒm/ /də/ /nɔːθ/ or /kɪŋg/ /ɪn/ /də/ /nɒːθ/ Lydia Hayes, University College London 10) "Why is he making that funny noise?": The RP Speaker as an Outcast Luca Valleriani, Sapienza Università di Roma