Functional equivalence and domestication strategies in film translation

The issue of equivalence has long been of crucial importance in translation theory, even though its definition and interpretation have often caused controversy among theorists within this field in the past fifty years. Undoubtedly, Eugene Nida is among the scholars who have approached the question from a functionalist perspective, proposing his well-known distinction between formal equivalence and dynamic equivalence. It is a fact that in his pursuit of naturalness Nida theorises a target oriented approach to translation, an approach aiming at domesticating the target text, where “the target text language should not show interference from the source language, and the ‘foreignness’ of the source text setting is minimised” (Nida 1964: 167-8, quoted in Munday 2008: 42). Considering these assertions, it is not surprising that Venuti holds “Nida’s concept of dynamic equivalence up as the epitome of domesticating translation” (Woodham 2002: 138). Moreover, Nida’s statements related to the necessity of adaptations of grammar, lexicon and cultural references have sometimes been interpreted as a licence to freely manipulate the text in the name of functional equivalence. The relationship between functional equivalence and domestication strategies is particularly evident within the field of audiovisual translation. This is especially the case of dubbing, rather than subtitling. It is the nature of the two different screen translation modes that makes the former more inclined towards domestication and the latter towards foreignization. A clear example of the relationship between the search for functional equivalence and the use of domesticating strategies in dubbing can be found in the Italian versions of Quentin Tarantino’s films. Among the elements that characterise Tarantino’s style it is worth mentioning the numerous references to films and directors that are found in all the films written by the author. The aim of this analysis is to investigate the approaches adopted by the various film adaptors who have translated his screenplays into Italian in the specific case of the direct references to films and directors cited in the dialogues. It is a fact that the films written by Quentin Tarantino have been translated into Italian by different people and This obviously accounts for the fact that the translation strategies adopted are by no means homogeneous. This lack in homogeneity of strategies is observable at various levels (Parini 2000), and the case of the references in question is no exception.