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Chapter 2. When the Thief of Bagdad tried to steal the show

The short-lived dubbing of Hollywood films into Arabic in the 1940s
  • Nolwenn Mingant
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Reassessing Dubbing
This chapter is in the book Reassessing Dubbing

Abstract

Between 1946 and 1951, U.S. distributors began dubbing a small number of films in Arabic for the North African and Middle Eastern markets. This experiment seems to have been motivated by an economic interest to penetrate those foreign markets and also in response to rising nationalism. Two models of dubbed versions existed at the time: the colonially-imposed French versions and the economically-motivated Persian versions. Battling against the former, and taking inspiration from the latter, U.S. distributors found themselves facing insurmountable political difficulties and eventually abandoned the practice of dubbing in Arabic. This case study foregrounds dubbing as a specific distribution strategy and highlights the political dimensions of this practice.

Abstract

Between 1946 and 1951, U.S. distributors began dubbing a small number of films in Arabic for the North African and Middle Eastern markets. This experiment seems to have been motivated by an economic interest to penetrate those foreign markets and also in response to rising nationalism. Two models of dubbed versions existed at the time: the colonially-imposed French versions and the economically-motivated Persian versions. Battling against the former, and taking inspiration from the latter, U.S. distributors found themselves facing insurmountable political difficulties and eventually abandoned the practice of dubbing in Arabic. This case study foregrounds dubbing as a specific distribution strategy and highlights the political dimensions of this practice.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. The dubbing revolution 1
  4. Part I. Historical approaches
  5. Chapter 1. Undoing dubbing 17
  6. Chapter 2. When the Thief of Bagdad tried to steal the show 41
  7. Chapter 3. Locked into dubbing 63
  8. Chapter 4. Auteur dubbing 79
  9. Part II. New trends in dubbing research and practice
  10. Chapter 5. Audiovisual translation in the age of digital transformation 103
  11. Chapter 6. Are we all together across languages? 125
  12. Chapter 7. Fandubbing across time and space 145
  13. Chapter 8. To Europe with love 169
  14. Part III. The linguistics of dubbing
  15. Chapter 9. More than words can say 191
  16. Chapter 10. Representing orality through questions in original and translated film dialogue 211
  17. Chapter 11. English films vs Italian films 229
  18. Part IV. Identity construction in dubbing
  19. Chapter 12. Sleeping with the fishes 245
  20. Chapter 13. Constructing youth identities in dubbed movies 263
  21. General Index 281
  22. Name Index 283
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.148.02min

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. The dubbing revolution 1
  4. Part I. Historical approaches
  5. Chapter 1. Undoing dubbing 17
  6. Chapter 2. When the Thief of Bagdad tried to steal the show 41
  7. Chapter 3. Locked into dubbing 63
  8. Chapter 4. Auteur dubbing 79
  9. Part II. New trends in dubbing research and practice
  10. Chapter 5. Audiovisual translation in the age of digital transformation 103
  11. Chapter 6. Are we all together across languages? 125
  12. Chapter 7. Fandubbing across time and space 145
  13. Chapter 8. To Europe with love 169
  14. Part III. The linguistics of dubbing
  15. Chapter 9. More than words can say 191
  16. Chapter 10. Representing orality through questions in original and translated film dialogue 211
  17. Chapter 11. English films vs Italian films 229
  18. Part IV. Identity construction in dubbing
  19. Chapter 12. Sleeping with the fishes 245
  20. Chapter 13. Constructing youth identities in dubbed movies 263
  21. General Index 281
  22. Name Index 283
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