Abstract: This article responds to calls for more detailed analyses of localization around the world (E. Castelló, 2009; E. Levine, 2009; S. Waisbord & S. Jalfin, 2009) by examining a Mexican dubbing company and its translation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) characters for Latin American audiences. Gay, lesbian, and transgender characters’ identities are alternately maintained and mitigated because of industrial norms and technical constraints. While LGBT content has been censored in other national contexts, the current study demonstrates the confluence of factors that result in non-censorial manipulation of these marginalized identities in Latin America. This grounded analysis pulls from ethnographic research at the Mexican dubbing studio New Art Dub and discusses dubbing in terms of industrial practices and decision-making processes to articulate the ways local and global elements intersect. Dubbing professionals offer a point of entry to understand localization dynamics by highlighting to role of cultural mediators whose decisions can reinforce or challenge cultural expectations of LGBT people.
Topic: Latin America
Aşk is Amor: The Turkish Drama Goes to America
ABSTRACT: Once upon a time, the primetime grids of Latin American countries were populated only by telenovelas, a genre that was watched in over 130 countries around the world. At that time, distributors of Turkish content would attend television global markets and sell nothing. Those times are gone. Today, Turkish dramas (dizis) have taken the place of telenovelas in many countries; even in Latin America, the birthplace of telenovelas. Dizi audiences in the Americas are comprised of mostly women who are over 35 years old. Their reception of Turkish dramas is mediated by their previous and/or current consumption of telenovelas. As these viewers become fans, they engage in activities such as watching episodes live, fan subbing, administration of webpages and social media accounts that promote Turkish dizis and actors, and fundraising for social causes to honor Turkish actors they admire. Importantly, these fans become Turkish culture consumers, explainers and spreaders.
(De/Re)Constructing LGBT Characters in Latin America: The Implications of Mexican Dubbing for Translating Marginalized Identities
Abstract: This article responds to calls for more detailed analyses of localization around the world (Castelló, 2009; Levine, 2009) by examining a Mexican dubbing company and its translation of LGBT characters for Latin American audiences. Gay, lesbian, and transgender characters’ identities are alternately maintained and mitigated because of industrial norms and technical constraints. While LGBT content has been censored in other national contexts, the current study demonstrates the confluence of factors that result in non-censorial manipulation of these marginalized identities in Latin America. This grounded analysis pulls from ethnographic research at the Mexican dubbing studio New Art Dub and discusses dubbing in terms of industrial practices and decision-making processes to articulate the ways local and global elements intersect. Dubbing professionals offer a point of entry to understand localization dynamics by highlighting to role of cultural mediators whose decisions can reinforce or challenge cultural expectations of LGBT people.