Lenguas Criminales: Languages in contact and dubbing of the Chicano villains in the movie Training Day (2001)

This study is an investigation on the role of Chicanos in gangster movies. Its the main purpose is a linguistic and translational product-based analysis of the dubbing of Chicano English, with particular focus on its Spanish elements (e.g. emblematic code-mixing, code-switching, phonology). An analysis of the translational strategies1 adopted in the dubbed version may point the way to an exploration of the possible ideological implications of specific linguistic choices. In particular, the hypothesis is that a subtle link is established between ‘Mexicanness’ and criminal behaviours by the original as well as the dubbed version of a movie starring Chicano villains, although in different ways and to different extents. The chosen audiovisual text for this analysis is Training Day (2001) and its Italian homonymous dubbed version.