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“Inizia oggi il papato di Pio XIII”. Multilingualism in The Young Pope and its Italian version
Abstract
Multilingualism in The Young Pope and its Italian Version analyzes the use of multiple linguistic codes in audio-visual products and in translation, taking as a case study Paolo Sorrentino’s TV series The Young Pope. In spite of the various studies that claim that multilingual audio-visual products tend to represent a more realistic depiction of modern society from a socio-linguistic perspective, the results of the analysis seem to demonstrate that this is not always the case. Indeed, the use of languages in the TV series is realistic only to a certain extent, as English tends to be used even when it would be reasonable to expect people to speak Italian. Likewise, linguistic realism is not a priority also in the Italian version, where all languages have been dubbed into standard Italian, regardless of the origins of the speakers.
Supplementary resource (1)
... Both The Young Pope and The New Pope are multilingual products. In fact, since the stories are set in Vatican City, where Italian is the official language, in both series quite a lot of dialogues are played in Italian (Parini 2017(Parini , 2019. In the original versions, the Italian dialogues are subtitled in English. ...
The Young Pope is a 2016 religious drama TV series created and directed by Italian Academy award winner Paolo Sorrentino for Sky Atlantic, HBO, and Canal+. It revolves around the events that take place during the first 10 months of papacy of the first (fictional) American pope, Lenny Belardo (who adopts the papal name of Pius XIII). The series has been severely criticized by magazine Famiglia Cristiana as well as other Catholic media; however, it has also been referred to as “an important cultural event” by L’Osservatore Romano, the daily newspaper of Vatican City State. Whether acclaimed or condemned, it is a fact that Sorrentino’s ecclesiastic world does not seem to conform to the canons usually lectured by the Catholic Church. The main character himself, Pius XIII, is a ruthless person who takes pleasure in humiliating others and in imposing his authority; he is extremely vain and this is probably the first time that a pope – albeit fictional – is shown completely naked on a screen. Even more astonishing, maybe, is the fact that he claims not to believe in God, but only in himself. Other characters show peculiarities which are definitely in contrast with the values preached by the Church. Cardinal Voiello does not hesitate to resort to blackmail in order to obtain what he wants; Cardinal Dussolier indulges in sexual threesomes; Cardinal Gutierrez is an alcoholic; Cardinal Kurtwell is a paedophile; Sister Antonia exploits the African people who live in the village she supervises; Sister Mary has no qualms in lying, even to her beloved pope. Moreover, all characters use profane language. The New Pope – released in 2020, also directed by Sorrentino and produced by Sky Atlantic, HBO, and Canal+ – is its sequel. Pius XIII is now in a coma and the Conclave elect a new pope, John Paul III, interpreted by John Malkovich. Also the new pope presents contradicting features, the most astounding of which is probably the fact that he is addicted to heroin. In this new series, moreover, attention is focused on a group of cloistered nuns, who are definitely the opposite of what we might expect from them: they dance lashiviously in their nighties beneath a fluorescent crucifix accompanied by flashing strobe lights and club music, one of them gets pregnant, others verbally and physically abuse one of their comrades. Furthermore, one of the purest characters of the previous series – Esther Aubry – ends up prostituting herself to disabled men. Although many of the characters also present positive features, and it would be unfair to define the series as a fierce critique to the Catholic world, it is a fact that its general representation turns out to be rather unconventional, and definitely controversial. Although many of the characters of the two products also present positive features, and it would be unfair to define the series as a fierce critique to the Catholic world, it is a fact that its general representation turns out to be rather unconventional, and definitely controversial. Apart from the narrative features, and the personalities of the religious characters, such unorthodox portrayal also relates to the linguistic area. Indeed, it is a fact that most characters’ speech is characterized by a rather high register, typified by the use of refined and recherché lexis, as well as complex syntactic constructions, and they generally display very sophisticated dialectic skills. In spite of this, they also make use of prophane language. This is the reason why the presence of taboo language is particularly interesting to analyze: first of all, we would not generally expect religious characters to swear; secondly, the use of offensive language seems to be in contrast with the very high register which characterises the characters’ speech. Consequently, its effect turns out to be even stronger than it would be in other contexts, as in the case of films portraying criminals, or drug dealers and addicts, or the like. This study intends to analyze the use of taboo language in The Young Pope and The New Pope, and its translation in their Italian dubbed versions. The aim is to ascertain whether the tendency to purge the target text observed in the case of older audiovisual productions can be confirmed, or, on the contrary, it is possible to corroborate the results related to the change in attitude recently observed in Italian dubbing. Finally, the paper will also present the results of a study on the perception of the use of taboo language used in the series, both on a sample of English-speaking viewers who watched them in the original version, and on a sample of Italian viewers who watched them in their Italian dubbed version.
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