Translating and dubbing verbal violence in Reservoir Dogs. Censorship in the linguistic Transference of Quentin Tarantino's (swear)words

Abstract

The kind of swearing which references sexual acts has been construed as the most obscene of all, perhaps because it reminds us of "a time when all sex was unholy, except as necessary for procreative purposes between married couples" (Allan and Burridge, 2006: 144). That is why the translation of sexual terms in film has not always been an easy task since the translator has had to face the predicament of trying to simultaneously please disparate audiences and distributors. In Reservoir Dogs (1992), a young Tarantino used a proliferation of sex-related terms, perhaps as a way of proclaiming and conveying his own style. The purpose of this article is threefold. First, I will introduce the concepts of taboo and obscenity and then move on to a linguistic taboo: swearing. Secondly, I will deal with issues such as verbal violence and (self)censorship with a focus on the sexual language in Reservoir Dogs. Finally, I will show some selective examples of the dubbing of the f-word as it appears in Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs in order to suggest that the level of swearing in the Spanish translation is lower than the original.