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The Department of Modern Languages & Linguistics Speaker Series
Presents
Dr. Justine Huet
Mount Royal University
When “I am gay” becomes “I am sick”: the French dubbing of homosexuality in Dallas
Monday, February 25, 2019
2 – 3 p.m. | D632
American soap operas achieved peak popularity in the 1980s and, in many regards, Dallas was a pioneer of the genre. Unlike most soap operas that aired during daytime and targeted the American housewife, Dallas aired at primetime and featured Steven Carrington, one of the first openly gay main characters on TV. While his depiction left something to be desired, from “recovering” homosexual who married multiple times to a quietly open gay man, Steven Carrington was eventually openly gay and accepted by his relatives. Dallas aired in France at a time where homosexuality was still considered a mental disease that could be cured. To what extent does the depiction of Steven Carrington in the French version differ from the original and parallel the plight of young gay men in France at the time? This presentation will examine the translation choices and determine to what extent the French dubbing abides by the common views on homosexuality at the time in France, from blatant censorship to a more subtle manipulation. We will determine to what extent the dubbing participates in the grand narrative of the “white, heterosexual, French citizen” and how that dubbing subsequently evolved in the 1990s.
Contact:
Dr. Alain Flaubert Takam | alain.takam@uleth.ca | 403-329-2561
