Watching Dubbed Television: Audiences in Italy and Mexico

Audiovisual translation is an intrinsic component of watching foreign television that has been largely ignored in reception studies. This article explores the use of dubbing among Italian and Mexican audiences of The Big Bang Theory and The Walking Dead. Fieldwork consisted of twenty-two semi-structured interviews, preceded by the textual analysis of the two series. Participants showed awareness that dubbing plays a role in the viewing moment and is clearly connected to the expected fidelity of translation, furthermore, it could be also a factor with wider social significance. In Mexico, watching dubbed programming was connected to issues of distinction and cultural capital, while in Italy dubbing is still pervasive but younger generations are using it less. In the current television landscape of wider availability of content and linguistic versions, interdisciplinary work with Audiovisual Translation scholars could be productive to account for the practices of international audiences.