The Italian Audiovisual Translation of Game of Thrones: A Comparison of the Dubbed and Subtitled versions

Audiovisual translation concerns the translation of dialogues from film, television and video media, in other words, any material displayed on a screen (TV, cinema or computer screen). Two primary forms of audiovisual translation are dubbing and subtitling, both of which help make the audiovisual content accessible and comprehensible to audiences who speak languages different from that of the country of production. However, these two types of translation involve a number of difficulties, as the target version is not always fully capable of conveying some cultural and linguistic references of the original. Game of Thrones is one of the series whose Italian dubbed version presents some inaccuracies and ambiguities compared to the rest of the versions, arousing mixed opinions among the audience. The aim of this paper is to identify and analyse the differences that emerge in dubbing and subtitling of the Italian version. In support of the analysis carried out on some episodes of the series, the circumstances and aspects that made an accurate translation of the latter challenging will be observed.