Revoicing Vernaculars? Racialised and Stereotyped Characters in Dubbing into Spanish and Catalan

Abstract

This article is concerned with vernacularisation in the original versions of animated films in English, and their dubbing into Spanish and Catalan, with a focus on the sociolinguistic significance of these transpositions. Taking into account the positioning of vernaculars in the media spaces in these three languages, as well as the social and semiotic constraints entangled with non-mainstream varieties in audiovisual media, we explore how different productions have resolved the culturally anchored inclusion of vernaculars across audiovisual media spaces. Understanding the impact of these decisions can only be a positive move in the context of the inclusion of varieties and vernaculars, whilst observing the cultural differences when it comes to their visibilisation across cultures. Our analysis covers four characters in the films <em>Cars</em> and <em>Shark Tale</em>, whose linguistic characterisation is achieved through distinction. We conclude that vernacularisation in dubbing can be successfully achieved from the perspective of non-stigmatisation, but that essentialist views on vernaculars tend to persist in the dubbing process. We identify three strategies that have been utilised in solving this “impossibility of translation”, to replicate, dissipate or erase linguistic stereotype, and propose that an active assessment of these choices is essential to fair and balanced language representation.