The melody of Spanish dubbed dialogue

Abstract

Dubbed speech has often been accused of sounding artificial and somewhat exaggerated, mainly because it features a type of melody that substantially differs from both spontaneous speech and domestic fictional dialogue. This paper explores the most significant vocal patterns that shape a recognisable melody in Castilian-Spanish dubbed dialogue in order to ascertain whether they really contribute to the artificiality of the target version or, on the contrary, help preserve the credibility of the film production and viewers’ cinematic illusion. The discussion reveals that dubbed speech is characterised by certain vocal features specific to this genre that, despite differing from the ones used in spontaneous speech and screen acting, appear to work effectively in dubbing and are generally tolerated by audiences. There seems to be room, however, for naturalising some of these patterns in an effort to achieve an acceptable balance between what conveys the impression of spontaneity and what sounds natural within the context of dubbing.