Il punto di vista della cultura di arrivo: gli elementi culturospecifici nella traduzione audiovisiva inglese-italiano

This contribution highlights the relative status of culture specific references, with special emphasis on the category which includes elements that do not originally belong either to the source culture or the target culture but are part of any third culture. The challenges they pose to the translator are of a different nature than those created by other types of references, as they rely on the degree of familiarity of the source culture with a given third culture (or at least with a particular element taken from it), which may be different from the target culture’s degree of familiarity. Several case studies taken from films and television series dubbed into Italian will show the degree of manipulation in dealing with these particular elements in audiovisual translation and an attempt will be made to draw conclusions on the possible reasons of adaptations which often verge on extreme forms of rewriting. References to third cultures best demonstrate the importance of taking the point of view of the target culture when tackling the analysis and the translation of culture specific references, as they are the textual elements in which the distance between source culture and target culture is best exemplified.