Addressing the no-dialect policy in the TV series My Brilliant Friend

The (un)translatability of the linguistic varieties of a geographical, ethnic and social type is particularly felt in the field of audiovisual translation (Longo 2009; Cavaliere 2010, 2019, 2021). Particularly in subtitling, due to the well-known space and time constraints, dialects (Hatim and Mason1997; Díaz-Cintas and Remael 2007), for instance, are generally translated into standard target language. A case in point is the conservative approach (Berezowski 1997) adopted in My Brilliant Friend TV series, the recent television adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s hugely successful Neapolitan Novels. Differently from the tetralogy – where very little dialect appears – the TV series restored 1950s dialect-speaking, which is a compelling narrative device instrumental to represent/develop characters and elaborate their feelings. Yet, the Tv series only airs standard Italian subtitles for non-Neapolitan Italians and standard English subtitles for English-speaking audience, which makes differences in speech no longer noticeable. By investigating the role of Neapolitan dialect in Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels and the no-dialect policy of its TV series subtitles, this study addresses (some of) the theoretical and practical problems faced by screen translation of regional varieties and to offer a contribution to the underdeveloped area of study of dialects and languages of minorities in AVT.