- University of Bologna
Department of Interpreting and Translation;
Corso della Repubblica 136;
FORLI'
47121
ITALY
- I am Professor of English Language and Translation at the University of Bologna's Department of Interpreting and Tran... moreI am Professor of English Language and Translation at the University of Bologna's Department of Interpreting and Translation Studies.
I am interested in Humo(u)r Studies; Screen Translation -- especially dubbing for the movies and TV and sociolinguistic bi/cross cultural intersections in terms of gender and ethnicity. I am also interested in the way in which a variety of media discourses shape (convince and/or distort?) the way we think.edit
Forthcoming beginning of 2016 with Routledge, the follow-up to my 1992 "The Language of Jokes".
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A blast from the past. My very first book! An attempt to simplify grammar for speakers of Italian.
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This is the first edited volume dedicated specifically to humor in interaction. It is a rich collection of essays by an international array of scholars representing various theoretical perspectives, but all concerned with interactional... more
This is the first edited volume dedicated specifically to humor in interaction. It is a rich collection of essays by an international array of scholars representing various theoretical perspectives, but all concerned with interactional aspects of humor. The contributors are scholars active both in the interdisciplinary area of humor studies and in adjacent disciplines such as linguistic pragmatics, sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, psycholinguistics, gender and translation studies. The volume effectively offers an overview of the range of phenomena falling in the broad category of ‘conversational humor’, and convincingly argues for the many different functions humor can fulfill, bypassing simplistic humor theories reducing humor to one function. All the articles draw on empirical material from different countries and cultures, comprising conversations among friends and family, talk in workplace situations, humor in educational settings, and experimental approaches to humor in interaction. The book is sure to become an important reference and source of inspiration for scholars in the various subfields of humor studies, pragmatics and (socio-)linguistics.
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This book sets out to establish the state of the art of this ever expanding field and at the same time to underscore the work of scholars following new paths of investigation both in terms of innovative linguistic mediations being... more
This book sets out to establish the state of the art of this ever expanding field and at the same time to underscore the work of scholars following new paths of investigation both in terms of innovative linguistic mediations being examined and pioneering experimental design.
The volume includes descriptions of sophisticated electronic databases and corpora of audiovisual products for the big and small screen, and the rationale behind them, e.g. how they are created and programmed for querying; technical limitations; homogeneity in querying languages. Furthermore, Between Text and Image also includes a number of cutting edge studies in audience perception of audiovisual products, i.e. empirically based viewer centred studies which are still rare yet essential if we wish to gain a thorough understanding of the field.
Finally, the volume does not fail to ignore examples of original research carried out from both a traditional linguistic viewpoint and from a more cultural perspective.
The volume includes descriptions of sophisticated electronic databases and corpora of audiovisual products for the big and small screen, and the rationale behind them, e.g. how they are created and programmed for querying; technical limitations; homogeneity in querying languages. Furthermore, Between Text and Image also includes a number of cutting edge studies in audience perception of audiovisual products, i.e. empirically based viewer centred studies which are still rare yet essential if we wish to gain a thorough understanding of the field.
Finally, the volume does not fail to ignore examples of original research carried out from both a traditional linguistic viewpoint and from a more cultural perspective.
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My take on Dicken's 'A Christmas Carol' brought up to date for learners of English. Good fun!
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A graded reader for learners of English. Written in my youth but still great fun!
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Geert Hofstede is interviewed by Delia Chiaro.
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This essay explores the implementation of a stereotypically Italian attribute, passion, in the promotion of Italian beverages via the Internet. Twenty websites promoting different types of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages were... more
This essay explores the implementation of a stereotypically Italian attribute, passion, in the promotion of Italian beverages via the Internet. Twenty websites promoting different types of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages were examined in order to see how the concept of passion was adopted and whether, and if so, how the concept of passion changes according to the size of the company and the type of beverage being promoted. Findings showed that the more alcoholic content the promoted beverage contains, the stronger and more transgressive references to passion became. Furthermore, larger companies tended to opt for a more humorous use of the stereotype when compared to smaller companies.
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Despite the widespread emergence of translations and diverse types of language mediation in contemporary society, our knowledge of the processes and operators involved in the "translation industry" is still very sketchy. With most... more
Despite the widespread emergence of translations and diverse types of language mediation in contemporary society, our knowledge of the processes and operators involved in the "translation industry" is still very sketchy. With most translation scholars working within the liberal arts paradigm, research to date has tended to adopt methodologies pertaining to the humanities while overlooking more practical approaches typical of the more ‘scientific’ disciplines. This paper outlines the necessity for empirical methods that aim at gathering information regarding basic aspects of translation, ranging from typologies of translations to the operators involved in their production as well as aspects regarding end user perception. Such maps and atlases delineating the status quo of translation and interpreting would provide information for fresh insights.
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This paper is an overview of how a number of sociolinguistic markers such as accent and slang present in filmic products are negotiated when translated via dubbing and subtitling into other languages.
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Despite the fact that both state owned (RAI) and privately owned (Mediaset) Italian television channels habitually adopt scantily dressed women in provocative poses to fulfill a purely decorative function on daytime television, a closer... more
Despite the fact that both state owned (RAI) and privately owned (Mediaset) Italian television channels habitually adopt scantily dressed women in provocative poses to fulfill a purely decorative function on daytime television, a closer look at Italian TV reveals that it is far less liberated than it seems. In fact, in stark contradiction to the apparent unrestraint of autochthonous studio productions, references to sex and sexuality in imported fictional products tend to be severely mitigated in their translated forms. Furthermore, it also appears that sexual behaviour beyond traditional male/female 'mainstream' sexual practices becomes increasingly taboo in translation, as they too are either toned down or totally elimi-nated. Relegated to cable and satellite channels or late-night/early morning viewing on one of the privately owned Mediaset channels, programs containing very explicit sexual content such as US produced 'Sex and the City' are moderated quite significantly for Italian audiences, not only in terms of the pervasive use of strong, taboo language, but also for explicit references to a variety of sexual practices. This paper will discuss the norms which govern the translation of 'adult' materials for Italian TV both from an examination of the linguistic content of the programs themselves and from the point of view of operators involved in the dubbing process.
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As is well known, the translation of Verbally Expressed Humour (VEH) is an especially thorny issue both practically and theoretically. This paper sets out to discuss the sphere of VEH on screen and how it is received by audiences who are... more
As is well known, the translation of Verbally Expressed Humour (VEH) is an especially thorny issue both practically and theoretically. This paper sets out to discuss the sphere of VEH on screen and how it is received by audiences who are exposed to instances which are mediated linguistically by means of dubbing.
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This paper will present and discuss the results of an empirical study on perception of quality in interpretation carried out on a sample of 286 interpreters across five continents. Since the 1980’s the field of Interpreting Studies has... more
This paper will present and discuss the results of an empirical study on perception of quality in interpretation carried out on a sample of 286 interpreters across five continents.
Since the 1980’s the field of Interpreting Studies has been witnessing an ever growing interest in the issue of quality in interpretation both in academia and in professional circles, but research undertaken so far is surprisingly lacking in methodological rigour. This survey is an attempt to revise previous studies on interpreters’ perception of quality through the implementation of new Information Technology which allowed us to administer a traditional research tool such as a questionnaire, in a highly innovative way; i.e., through the World Wide Web. Using multidimensional scaling, a perceptual map based upon the results of the manner in which interpreters ranked a list of linguistic and non-linguistic criteria according to their perception of importance in the interpretative process, was devised.
Since the 1980’s the field of Interpreting Studies has been witnessing an ever growing interest in the issue of quality in interpretation both in academia and in professional circles, but research undertaken so far is surprisingly lacking in methodological rigour. This survey is an attempt to revise previous studies on interpreters’ perception of quality through the implementation of new Information Technology which allowed us to administer a traditional research tool such as a questionnaire, in a highly innovative way; i.e., through the World Wide Web. Using multidimensional scaling, a perceptual map based upon the results of the manner in which interpreters ranked a list of linguistic and non-linguistic criteria according to their perception of importance in the interpretative process, was devised.
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Research Interests: Humour Studies and Jokes
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Despite the nation’s poor reputation in terms of cuisine, cookery shows abound on UK television with Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson being two of TV’s most popular chefs. Following a brief overview of popular cookery programs broadcast in... more
Despite the nation’s poor reputation in terms of cuisine, cookery shows abound on UK television with Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson being two of TV’s most popular chefs. Following a brief overview of popular cookery programs broadcast in the UK over the past fifty years, this essay will focus on Jamie and Nigella through a description of a series of linguistic features adopted by each, such as their idiosyncratic uses of terminology when giving instructions; modes of interaction with the audience and expressions of emotion. It will emerge that the chefs’ performances, especially in terms of language, take front stage with respect to the dishes they present.
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It is a truth universally acknowledged that verbal humor travels badly. While visual incongruity and slapstick may raise a smile universally, once words enter the cross-cultural equation, the issue of what may or may not be intended as... more
It is a truth universally acknowledged that verbal humor travels badly. While visual incongruity and slapstick may raise a smile universally, once words enter the cross-cultural equation, the issue of what may or may not be intended as humorous becomes less clear cut. Furthermore, when verbal humor is part of an audiovisual product, the fact that it may be strongly anchored either visually or acoustically to other elements in the audiovisual text, will complicate translation and as a result possibly influence viewers’ reception of the instance of humor
in question. This chapter sets out to explore the impact of language, and more particularly, of translation, on the reaction of Italian end-users of humorous stimuli contained within translated audiovisual products. The research design
created to measure these responses is described and results pertaining to a number of studies in which the same protocol was applied are reported. As the appreciation of humor is not solely cognitive—in other words, it cannot be limited to comprehension alone—the chapter will also examine the concept of “sense of humor” and whether, and if so to what extent, it is lingua-cultural specific and/or how far it is dependent on individual personality traits.
in question. This chapter sets out to explore the impact of language, and more particularly, of translation, on the reaction of Italian end-users of humorous stimuli contained within translated audiovisual products. The research design
created to measure these responses is described and results pertaining to a number of studies in which the same protocol was applied are reported. As the appreciation of humor is not solely cognitive—in other words, it cannot be limited to comprehension alone—the chapter will also examine the concept of “sense of humor” and whether, and if so to what extent, it is lingua-cultural specific and/or how far it is dependent on individual personality traits.
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Research Interests: Humour Studies and Jokes
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This volume comprises contributions on a wide variety of subjects in the fields of literature,language studies, cultural studies, linguistics, and translation studies, interspersed with works of fiction and poetry. Minding the Gap was... more
This volume comprises contributions on a wide variety of subjects in the fields of literature,language studies, cultural studies, linguistics, and translation studies, interspersed with works of fiction and poetry. Minding the Gap was chosen as a title since the idea of exchange, which perhaps is the general concept which best takes in all of Rosa Maria Bollettieri Bosinelli’s concerns, is made possible precisely by a gap, which is that space that does indeed need minding since while it is the space that makes communication and translation possible, it is likewise the space that makes possible the miscommunications, mistranslations, and misunderstandings—the “miss-takes”—of life’s negotiations. The contributions in this volume represent numerous “takes” on how various gaps are minded, negotiated, and/or missed—all “takes” contributed in honour of one who truly understands what is at stake in minding the gap. The contributions in honour of Rosa Maria Bollettieri Bosinelli have been gathered together in two volumes: VOLUME I a joyceful of talkatalka VOLUME II Minding the Gap: Studies in Linguistic and Cultural Exchange All four editors are affiliated with the Scuola Superiore di Lingue Moderne per Interpreti e Traduttori dell’Università di Bologna a Forlì (The Advanced School of Modern Languages for Interpreters and Translators of the University of Bologna at Forlì), where RAFFAELLA BACCOLINI teaches American Literature and Gender Studies, DELIA CHIARO teaches English and Humour Studies, CHRIS RUNDLE teaches Translation and Subtitling, and SAM WHISITT teaches Literature, and Language and Culture.
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Jury member for 2015 prizes for best TV and cinema translation/adaptation.
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As is well known, the translation of Verbally Expressed Humour (VEH) is an especially thorny issue both practically and theoretically. This paper sets out to discuss the sphere of VEH on screen and how it is received by audiences who are... more
As is well known, the translation of Verbally Expressed Humour (VEH) is an especially thorny issue both practically and theoretically. This paper sets out to discuss the sphere of VEH on screen and how it is received by audiences who are exposed to instances which are mediated linguistically by means of dubbing. 1. Humour and Screen Translation The results of
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... research has revealed similarities in joke forms across cul-tures (Davies 1998), personality research has examined the concept of sense of hu-mour and suggests that it varies individually in terms of personal state and trait as does... more
... research has revealed similarities in joke forms across cul-tures (Davies 1998), personality research has examined the concept of sense of hu-mour and suggests that it varies individually in terms of personal state and trait as does the concept of gelatophobia (fear of laughter ...
ABSTRACT
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... standing to translators (for detailed discussions of issues regarding quality in translation see Hermans and Lambert 1998 and Chiaro and Nocella 1999 ... Although there is a general consensus as to which criteria make up a good... more
... standing to translators (for detailed discussions of issues regarding quality in translation see Hermans and Lambert 1998 and Chiaro and Nocella 1999 ... Although there is a general consensus as to which criteria make up a good quality interpretation; ie, fidelity to the source text ...