Il Doppiaggio come democrazia culturale

Adapting translation for dubbing is not a mere linguistic fact: it also takes on the ideological discussion about globalization in its much debated terms of hope for reciprocity vs. the consequences of its real inequity. Through an analysis of some important landmarks that intersected the history of some Western countries in the last two centuries, it was possible to trace a lack of reciprocity in the usage of dubbing between North America and Europe. The lack of reciprocity in dubbing non-American films translates into cultural supremacy, as all countries whose languages are less widespread than English have automatically compromised their position on the market. Also, there is some value in taking into consideration that most Americans have always been deprived of the knowledge of other cultures through films. Investigating the main topics related to globalization and the mass media, the research try to demonstrate that in this situation, the only way to resist the cultural hegemony subtly spreading through audiovisual channels is the use of dubbing. Through dubbing spectators can take the signs and information concerning the other culture, while still maintaining the local identities – expressed by the target language. They can learn about other cultures, without being ʻamericanizedʼ. The study shows that dubbing can be considered as a form of “cultural democracy”, as it respects the plurality of cultures and spreads pieces of information rather than ideologies.