Translating "America's most nuclear family" into Italian: Dubbing and cultural adaptation in The Simpsons

The Simpsons is one of the most successful cartoons and one of the most famous (and widely quoted) sitcoms in TV history, a mass-media phenomenon and the longest-running prime-time animated show in television history. As a typical postmodern creation, it oscillates between a work of art and a consumer good to be exported and sold. Translators and dubbing teams attempting to reproduce it in another language (and culture) must deal confidently with an enormous amount of textual material. This article analyzes the practical strategies adopted by Italian translators using selected episodes from Season Five (with references to other seasons and episodes). As this analysis of the Italian edition will try to demonstrate that, while The Simpsons undoubtedly remains an American ‘product’, many of its themes and references are part of a global cultural background whose adaptation for a ‘local’ audience, such as the Italian one, can still be possible.