Lenguas Criminales: Chicano English and Italian dubbing of Chicano gangsters in the movie Training Day (2001)

This study is an investigation on the role of the Chicanos in gangster movies. Its main purpose in 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 strategies 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 choisen audiovisual text for this analysis is Training Day (2001) and its Italian homonymous dubbed version. Although containing only one scene with Chicano gangsters, this movie was selected (from a broader study conducted by the author) due to its significant and emblematic load, for the pivotal role that the gangsters have in the plot - which makes the scene one of the main moments in the whole movie - and for its worldwide success.