The Translation of Comics as Localization. On Three Italian Translations of La piste des Navajos

While the translation of comic books and strips obviously differs in many ways from localization, as the term is generally understood, certain aspects which characterize the 'translation' of computer programmes and web sites can help explain how comics published in translation become different products from what they were when originally published in another language. These aspects concern processes of internationalization, localization and upgrading of both verbal and visual signs, which involve teamwork and different agents and stages. This paper looks at the translation of comics as a localization process, in which the translation of the verbal components of translated comics is only part of the adaptation of the product to the target locale. A number of internationalization/localization practices are exemplified, notably using the production of Disney comics in different countries, and the upgrading practices involved in the republication of some Italian comics, which have been "updated" to respond to social changes, are illustrated. The second part of the paper deals more specifically with the re-translations, or rather, re-localizations of a French western comic series, Charlier and Giraud's Blueberry, first published in the magazine Pilot in the 1960s and republished in Italy a number of times since then. The analysis shows how the Italian 'translations' are part of larger localization processes which have led to the publication of target products designed for markedly different audiences.