Transcreation: teoria e pratica dell’adattamento di campagne pubblicitarie globali

This dissertation explores the practice of transcreation as a consulting service aimed at companies wishing to enter the global market. Since a universally accepted definition of such term does not exist, different players use it to refer to different activities. In an attempt to investigate the meaning and scope of transcreation, as well as the skillset it requires, this dissertation consists of a theoretical part (Chapters 1 and 2) and a practical part (Chapter 3). The first chapter presents the opinions of academics, language services providers (LSPs) and transcreation experts. The different positions collected in this section are compared and discussed in order to better define transcreation and avoid any further misunderstanding about the practice. Lastly, the first chapter analyses the role of the transcreation expert by explaining in detail the four main skills it requires and the reasons for its increasing importance in the global market. The second chapter examines advertising and promotional materials, i.e. the kinds of texts to which transcreation applies. Not only does it illustrate the difference between above-the-line and below-the-line communications, but it also covers the different media used in advertising. In addition, the analysis of a billboard and two web pages in their Italian transcreation will help to further clarify the difference between translation and transcreation, both in the approach to a text and in the actual workflow followed. The third and final chapter of the dissertation, which entails the English to Italian transcreation of five different print ads performed by this author, aims to show how transcreation works in practice. By highlighting the main strategies used and difficulties encountered, it will also contribute to the notion of transcreation as a hybrid practice – something halfway between translation and copywriting, performed by professionals who possess the skills of both translators and copywriters.

Al di là della traduzione pubblicitaria: teoria e applicazione della transcreation

Il tema centrale del presente elaborato è la transcreation, una particolare tipologia di traduzione che prende in esame non solo le parole, ma anche altri elementi testuali, quali il tono, lo stile, l’effetto suscitato nel lettore e, soprattutto, lo scopo. Tali elementi devono essere adattati, modificati o addirittura rimossi al fine di rendere il testo comprensibile al pubblico meta. L’obiettivo di questa pratica traduttiva è, quindi, quello di riprodurre in un’altra lingua un messaggio che non è formato da semplici parole, ma da concetti. L'elaborato prevede tre capitoli: nel primo verrà introdotto e definito il concetto di transcreation, verranno descritti gli ambiti d’uso e le competenze necessarie per poter realizzare tale pratica, nonché il processo per la sua realizzazione; nel secondo verranno analizzati due esempi concreti di spot pubblicitari "transcreati", uno nelle versioni inglese, italiana e spagnola e l’altro nelle versioni inglese e spagnola; infine, nel terzo, verranno proposte e analizzate le transcreation di due slogan pubblicitari in spagnolo, mai adattati in italiano.