Culture-Specific Items in Audiovisual Translation: Between Domestication and Foreignization – Dubbing ‘Coco’ into Arabic as a Case Study

Abstract

 Culture is inextricably bound to translation. Successful intercultural communication is a fundamental aspect of the translation process, especially when it comes to audiovisual translation (AVT), where cultural elements appear in sound and image. Leaning on Aixela's (1996) model, this research aims to highlight the strategies adopted by the audiovisual translator to translate Culture-specific Items (CSIs) through a contrastive analysis of the animated English film "Coco" and its Arabic dubbed version. The results demonstrate that the translation of CSIs poses many challenges for AV translators and resurrects the age-old debate of domestication and foreignization in translation.