‘Walk and Talk’ in Italian : Dubbing Cool Politics

This study examines the reasons why the television series The West Wing did not have the huge success in Italy that it had had elsewhere. Over and above the supposition that the series lacked in appeal for simple marketing mistakes such as poor scheduling and the public’s lack of engagement with matters of US politics, it is likely that issues concerning translation may have also had an adverse impact. One of the hardest hurdles facing the translator of the series concerned the management of dialogue that often consisted of witty repartee delivered at fast speed while actors were on the move ‘walking and talking’. Following a brief and critical overview of the Italian dub of the episode In Excelsis Deo, a variety of lingua-cultural issues that the translation and dub had to deal with will be explored. An interview with the dubbing translator reveals how references to sex, violence and religion are flattened throughout the original script’s to the Italian screen.