Translating dialects

The translation and adaptation of regional and social varieties represent one of the main obstacles for operators involved in any field of translation because a dialect-for-dialect approach is generally dismissed because it presupposes not only linguistic, but also cultural and functional equivalences. Nonetheless, although the use of dialect may be a fundamental way in which characters and their (sub)culture are implied and represented, geographical dialects are generally neutralized and substituted with standard languages. A case in point is the film ‘Gomorra(h)’ where both national/regional and social variants in the Italian text, that is, Neapolitan dialect, East European, Chinese and Northern Italian accents or illiterate forms, are all replaced with standard English. accordingly, information concerning personal relationships and identities is altered or flattened out. Examples from the English translation of Ferrante's books are also considered.