Relevance theory and the translation of swearwords in audiovisual translation. Scorsese's Casino and The Wolf of Wall Street in Spanish

Abstract This study examines the translation of swearwords in the Spanish subtitled and dubbed versions of Scorsese's Casino and The Wolf of Wall Street through the lens of relevance theory. Swearwords constitute a crucial element in fictional audiovisual narratives, as they convey emotional intensity, social relations and pragmatic meaning. Their translation is particularly challenging due to cross-cultural variation in taboo language and technical constraints inherent to audiovisual translation (AVT). After reflecting upon the translation of swearwords from a relevance-theoretic perspective and delving into the translation of swearwords in AVT, a corpus of 3,181 source-text swearwords with their corresponding translations in dubbing and subtitling is analysed. The findings reveal that the majority of swearwords (57.7%) were not subjected to any level of sanitisation, thus yielding many of the cognitive effects intended in the source text (ST). Statistical analysis indicates that the choice of translation solution is significantly influenced by both the AVT modality and the specific film. Notably, The Wolf of Wall Street exhibited lower levels of sanitisation than Casino , reflecting an 18-year evolution in translation norms towards increased vulgarisation in Spanish AVT. The study also highlights the explanatory power of relevance theory for understanding swearword translation and suggests directions for future research.