Il Polari, la lingua segreta della comunità LGBT+ e le sfide del sottotitolaggio di due prodotti audiovisivi in Polari “Bruce Eves in Polari” e “Putting on the Dish”

This dissertation focuses on Polari, a secret language used by gay men and women in Britain, prior to the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1967. It deals also with Audiovisual Translation, in particular it focuses on the subtitling of two products in which Polari is spoken: “Bruce Eves in Polari” and “Putting on the Dish”. The first chapter contains an analysis of Polari as an anti-Language, used by a marginalized community. It focuses also on its historical and linguistic influences., as well as its speaker and its uses and functions. The second chapter describes the history of homosexuality and its perception, with particular focus on the Twentieth century. It also describes how Polari influenced the lives of the LGBT+ community in the UK and how and why Polari disappeared. The third chapter covers the main works in Polari, such as the famous Julian and Sandy sketches, the translation in Polari of the Bible, and more recent productions such as the Polari app, songs (like Piccadilly Palare by Morrissey, Girl loves me by David Bowie and Naff Switch by Ida Barr), as well as the literary club called Polari Salon and many others. The fouth chapter consists in an analysis of Audiovisual Translation, of its characteristics and challenges, including multimodality, space and time limitations, the translation of slang and dialects, of swearwords, of humour and multilingual products. In the final chapter there is an practical analysis of the subtitling choices made for the translation of “Bruce Eves in Polari” and “Putting on the Dish”.