Delia Carmela Chiaro

I was born and educated in the UK and hold degrees from the Universities of Liverpool, Birmingham and L'Università degli Studi, Federico II, Naples. Since 2001 I have held the positions of Professor of English Language and Translation and Director of the Master's Program in Screen Translation at the University of Bologna's Advanced School in Modern Languages for Interpreters and Translators (SSLiMIT, Forlì). In the past I held the position of Associate Professor at the University of Bologna (1995-2001) and at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Salerno (1992-1994). I began my career as an English language assistant (lettore) at the Universities of Naples and Potenza (1982-1992).

 

In 1993 I was Visiting Professor at the University of Aberdeen (UK) where I taught Sociolinguistics; in 2007 I held lectures and seminars (by invitation) in Taiwan (National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei; National Chiayi City University; Chung Cheng University and Changhua University of Education) and in 2008, at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. I have also been frequently invited to lecture at the University of Innsbruck, Austria.

 

My main research interests are Screen Translation, Humour Studies and Intercultural Communication. Being a cinema enthusiast and a lover of TV series, I have succeeded in combining my passion with my work by researching what occurs when movies and series are translated and then dubbed and/or subtitled into other languages. I am especially interested in audiences' responses to features such as dubbed/subtitled humour and on the impact of translation on their Humour Response (McGhee 1972). I am especially interested in examining what audiences really understand from watching films in translation and in my work I apply methods pertaining to the social sciences, (especially Consumer Science) such as focus group interviews, questionnaires etc. and in particular the Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behaviour (1991), to measure audience satisfaction of dubbed and subtitled films.

 

She is currently (2015-17) elected President of the International Society of Humor Studies.

 

ADMINISTRATIVE DUTIES

2008-2012  Chair of the Dipartimento di Studi Interdisciplinari in Traduzione, Lingue e Culture (SITLeC), Forlì;

2009- present, Member of the  executive board of the PhD in Translation, Interpreting and Intercultural Communication ; Department pf Interpreting and Translation (Forlì);

2012- present, Coordinator of the "Dual Badge PhD" between the University of Bologna and Monash University (Melbourne, Australia); the University of Auckland (New Zealand) and the University of Durham (UK);

2002 – 2009 Member of the  executive board of the PhD in English for Specific Purposes of the Faculty of Political Science, University of Naples/University of Bologna;

2002 – 2008; 2012 – 2014,  Coordinator of Department English Programs;

2005 Director of Life Long Learning Course International Commercial Communication: cultural and linguistic choices for a successful marketing mix (SSLiMIT, Forlì);

1995-1998 –SSLIMIT Socrates/ Erasmus exchange coordinator.

 

SUPERVISION OF JUNIOR RESEARCHER PROJECTS & Ph.D SUPERVISION

2022- 2023 Responsible for funded research project entitled:: "An Exploration of Social Media as an Arena for Political Debate: allying polarisation and humour" Tutor to research assistant Dr. Nikita Lobanov, Dipartimento di Interpretazione e Traduzione DIT (Forlì);

2019 - 2020 Responsible for funded research project entitled:"Serie televisive e pubblici italiani:
La percezione e la fruizione del doppiaggio oggi" Tutor to research assistant Dr. Giuseppe De Bonis, Dipartimento di Interpretazione e Traduzione DIT (Forlì);

2015 - 2017 Responsible for funded research project entitled: Tutor to research assistant Dr. Linda Rossato, Department of Interpretating and Translation, DIT, (Forlì);

2010 - 2015     Responsible for funded research project entitled: "Italy in the UK: Italians in London from the 19th century to the new millennium."' Tutor to research assistant Dr. Linda Rossato, Department of Interpretating and Translation, DIT, (Forlì);

2008-2011 Responsible for funded project entitled “Empirical research in the field of audiovisual translation: television, translation and censorship.” Tutor to post-doc researcher Dr. Chiara Bucaria. SITLeC (Forlì);

2001-2005 Responsible for funded research project entitled “Quality of Dubbed Filmic Products in Europe.” Tutor to research assistant Dr. Rachele Antonini, SITLeC (Forlì).

Current supervision of doctorate students:

Jennifer Monroe 2021 ongoing 'Finding the Funny: Humor in conversations with an intelligent personal assistant, Alexa', in Co-utelle with Prof. Christian Hemmplemann, University of Texas A & M.

Completed supervisons

2020 - 2023 Valentina Di Francesco  ongoing 'Simil sync: studio di percezione dell’audience italiana verso gli adattamenti dei programmi factual per televisione e piattaforme streaming'.

2018 - 2021 Nikita Lobanov, 'Language, Humour and Contemporary Political Issues: New Media and the British 'Alt-Right' in Co-tutelle with Dr Simon Weaver, Brunel University, London, UK.

2013-2017 Beatrice Spallaccia (con Raffaella Baccolini) 'Sexist Hate Speech in Web 2.0: a critical discourse analysis'.

2012 - 2016 Nicola Tondi ‘Audio-description of screen products for the blind and visually impaired (PhD awarded July 2016).

2011-2015 Giuseppe De Bonis (PhD awarded July 2015) ‘Multilingual Films in Italy – Translation, Linguistic Homogeneity and Safeguard of Diversity';

2010 - 2014 Supervision of Alice Casarini (Ph.D. awarded September 2014)‘Lost in transla-teen. How Italian Audiences Perceive US Teen Culture via Dubbing and Subtitling of TV Series from 1990 to 2012: A Linguistic and Sociocultural Study'.

2006-2009 Supervision of Chiara Bucaria (Ph.D. awarded June 2009) - ‘Dark Humour as a Culture Specific Phenomenon: A Study in Screen Translation';

2007 -2011 Supervision of Linda Rossato (Ph.D. awarded January 2010) ‘The Discourse of British TV Cookery';

Founder and responsible for International DUAL BADGE International PhD Exchange Programs:

1. Alma mater studiorum University of Bologna & University of Durham, UK; 

2. Alma mater studiorum University niversity ofof Bologna & University of Monash, Australia;

3. Alma mater studiorum Università di Bologna & University of Auckland, New Zealand.

External PhD Examiner

February 2020. "External examiner" PhD Translation Studies (candidata Esther Linares) University of Alicante, Spain.

September 2015 External Examiner PhD Philosophy (candidate Amy Billingsley) 'Feminist Humor'. University of Oregon, Graduate School, USA.

November 2012: External Examiner PhD English Studies (candidate Milena Mendes) ‘Humorous texts in course books: an investigation of pedagogical tasks and readers' reactions.' Queen's University, Belfast, (UK);

May 2009: Chief examiner PhD Translation Studies (candidate Colm Caffrey) ‘Cognitive implications on the non-Japanese viewer of scenes that present culture specific non-verbal communication (NVC) in subtitled Japanese films.' Dublin City University, (Ireland);

October 2006: Chief examiner MPhil Translation Studies (candidate: Marcella De Marco) ‘Translating Gender in filmic Comedy' University of Roehampton, UK.

 

ORGANIZATION OF INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOPS AND SUMMER SCHOOLS

2006; 2007 & 2008 Director of Socrates Intensive Program (EU Funding Grant Agreement No.29342-IC-1-IT-ERASMUS-IPUC.4) International Summer School in Screen Translation at the Residential Summer Residence of the University of Bologna at Bertinoro (FC) with the Universities of Roehampton and Imperial College, London UK; Universities of Oviedo and Jaume, Spain; University of Leiria, Portugal; Saarland University, Saarbrucken, Germany; University of Antwerp, Belgium and Heriott-Watt University, Scotland, UK.

May 2007 Director of the Fourth European Workshop in Humour Studies Humour, Language, Culture and the Media. Invited speakers: Paul Lewis (Boston College, USA); Sharon Lockyer (Brunel University, UK), Frances Gray, (University of Sheffield, UK).

May 2006 Director of the First International Summer School in Screen Translation at the Residential Summer Residence of the University of Bologna at Bertinoro (FC) with the participation of Henrik Gottlieb (University of Copenhagen ) and Georg Michael Luyken (Munich, Germany).

October 2005 Chair of the International Conference Between Word and Image: updating research in screen translation; Department of Interdisciplinary Studies in Languages, Translation and Cultures, University of Bologna at Forlì .

May 2003 Chair of the Third European Workshop in Humour Studies Humour, Language, Culture and Conversation . Invited speakers: Janet Holmes (University of Wellington, New Zealand); Don Kulick (University of New York, USA), Neal Norrick, (University of Saarbrucken, Germany).

May 2004 Chair of the Second European Workshop in Humour Studies Humour, Language, Culture and Gender. Invited speakers: Regina Barecca (University of Connecticut, USA); Jennifer Coates (University of Roehampton, London, UK), Don Kulick (University of New York, USA), and Larraine Porter (Broadway Media Centre, UK).

May 2003 Chair of the First European Workshop in Humour Studies 22-24 May 2003 Humour, Language, Culture and Translation. Invited Speakers Christie Davies, (Emeritus Professor University of Reading, UK), Dirk Delabastita (University of Namur, Belgium) and Patrick Zabalbeascoa (Università Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain).

 

ORGANIZATION OF INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES

2022 Convenor of the post-Covid Conference of the International Society of Humour Studies held at the University of Bologna's Residential Centre at Bertinoro

2002 Convenor of the XVII Conference of the International Society of Humour Studies held at the University of Bologna's Residential Centre at Bertinoro with the participation of Nobel prizewinner Dario Fo (http://www.sitlec.unibo.it/ishs2002/).

2005 Convenor of the International Conference Between Word and Image: updating research in screen translation; Department of Interdisciplinary Studies in Languages, Translation and Cultures, University of Bologna at Forlì ( http://screentranslation.sitlec.unibo.it/);

Member of Steering Committee of the following conferences:

2024 Scientific committee of the 2nd International Conference on Verbal Humour (CIHV2024) willUniversity of Alicante (Spain)

2024 Scientific committee of the international conference How can AI translate? Università di Napoli, Federico II.

2022 Membro del Comitato Scientifico di TACO The Fourth Taboo Conference, Università degli Studi di Roma, Tor Vergata.

2016 Membro del Comitato Scientifico di TACO The Third Taboo Conference, Unversitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spagna.

2016 Membro del Comitato Scientifico di Traduire le 'texte' filmique" / The Senses in Motion: Translating the Cinematic Text Université Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris 3, France.

2016 Membro del Comitato Scientifico del Second International Conference of Food and Culture in Translation, FACT, Università di Catania, Italia (http://www.fact2016.unict.it/).

2015 Co-ordinatrice di "A Walk on the Wild(er) Side" giornata di studio sul cinema di Billy Wilder. University of Bologna, Forlì Campus.

2014 Membro del Comitato Scientifico di TACO The Second Taboo Conference, University of Durham, UK (https://www.dur.ac.uk/cim/events/taco/)

2014 Co-cordinatrice (insieme a Linda Rossato) di First International Conference of Food and Culture in Translation, Centro Universitario Residenziale dell' Università di Bologna, Bertinoro, (FC), (http://fact.sitlec.unibo.it/)

2012 Membro del Comitato Scientifico di First International Conference on Non-Professional Interpreting and Translation,Università di Bologna, Forlì (http://npit1.sitlec.unibo.it);

2012 Membro del Comitato Scientifico di TACO The First Taboo Conference, Università di Bologna, Forlì ( http://taco2012.sitlec.unibo.it/ )

2010 Co-ordinatrice del Congresso Internazionale ScreenIt -The changing face of screen translation Università di Bologna, Forlì ( http://screenit2010.sitlec.unibo.it/ )

2008 “ Congreso Internacional Traducción en la Era de la Información / Internacional Conference on Translation in the Era of Information Universidad de Oviedo, Spagna .

2007 “ Studying Humour : Linguistics, Literature, Literary Criticism, Stylistics, Translation, Culture, History, Anthropology” University of Madeira, Portugal.

2007 “Third International Conference on the Translation of Dialects in Multimedia” University of Bologna; 2007 “Media For All” Università di Leiria, Portugal.

2008 “ Congreso Internacional Traducción en la Era de la Información / Internacional Conference on Translation in the Era of Information Universidad de Oviedo, Spain .

2010 Convenor of the International Conference ScreenIt -The changing face of screen translation ( http://screenit2010.sitlec.unibo.it/).

2012 Member of Steering and Organization Committees of the “First International Conference on Non-Professional Interpreting and Translation,”University of Bologna,  Forlì Campus, (http://npit1.sitlec.unibo.it).

2012 Member of Steering and Organization Committees of “TACO The Taboo Conference“ University of Bologna, Forlì  Campus ( http://taco2012.sitlec.unibo.it/).

2010 Convenor of the International Conference ScreenIt -The changing face of screen translation University of Bologna, Forlì  Campus ( http://screenit2010.sitlec.unibo.it/).

2012 Member of Steering and Organization Committees of the “First International Conference on Non-Professional Interpreting and Translation,”University of Bologna, Forlì Campus (http://npit1.sitlec.unibo.it);

2012 Member of Steering and Organization Committees of “TACO The First Taboo Conference“ University of Bologna, Forlì “ University of Bologna, Campus di Forlì ( http://taco2012.sitlec.unibo.it/).

2014 Co-chair of FaCT (with Linda Rossato)  "First International Conference of Food and Culture in Translation",  University of Bologna, Forlì Campus  (http://fact.sitlec.unibo.it/)

2014 Member of Steering and Organization Committees of “TACO The Second Taboo Conference", University of Durham, UK (https://www.dur.ac.uk/cim/events/taco/)

2015 Convenor of "A Walk on the Wild(er) Side" a symposium on the work of Billy Wilder. Università di Bologna, Forlì Campus.

INVITED PRESENTATIONS TO PEER-REVIEWED, INTERNATIONALLY ESTABLISHED CONFERENCES

• 9- 12 July 2024 Keynote speaker at the Associazione Italiana Anglistica Summer Schook "Place, Space and Identity in the Anglophone World. Linguistic, Literary and Cultural Insights" - Università degli Studi “G. d’Annunzio”, Chieti-Pescara.
• 30 May - June 1st 2024 Keynote speaker at the 10th International Conference on Intercultural Pragmatics and Communication (INPRA) University of Pisa.
• 23 Aprile 2024 Keynote speaker Università di Napoli, Federico II International Conference "How Can AI Translate?"
• February 2024 Keynote speaker  Australasian Humour Studies Network (AHSN) annual conference, University of Brisbane, Australia.
• February 2024
  Invited speaker at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.

• October 2023 Keynote speaker at international conference "Rewind and Fast Forward Past, present and future scenarios in audiovisual translation" University of Venice, Ca' Foscari, Treviso Campus.

• 29 September 2022 Invited Speaker University of Edinburgh; UK, "Humor in the Public Sphere" Kaleidoscope UnaEuropa Consortium
• 26 September 2022 Invited Speaker Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia "Misunderstanding" Giornata di studio sull'incomprensione linguistica.
• 1 June 2022 Keynote speaker Università degli Studi G. D'Annunzio Chieti- Pescara Convegno internazionale Audiovisual Translation and Minority Cultures "Centres and Peripheries;In-Groups and Out-Groups:Scroll, swipe, click… laugh"
• 6 May 2022 Keynote speaker Università di Coimbra, Portogallo International Conference "A tradução na prática ∞ a prática da tradução" "Translating humour in the digital age: from the joke to the meme and beyond".
  
• 20 May 2022 Invited speaker Università Ca' Foscari, Campus di Treviso, "Some Like it Dubbed: Netflix’s Double Whammy"
• 25 May 2020 Invited speaker TranslAcademy, Ukraine Translating Humour
  
• 1 December2020 Invited speaker Universita Ca' Foscari, Campus di Treviso, Convegno "Dubbing in Italy: A diachronic overview"
  
• 12 December2019 Invited Speaker IULM Milano, Giornata di Studio "Tradurre l'Oralità"
• 29 Novembre 2019 Invited Speaker DIT Forlì, “La scortesia linguistica. Teoria, didattica e traduzione”.
• 22nd November 2019 Invited speaker University of Macerata Convegno internazionale "Cibo e Vino / Food and Wine"
• November 11th --13th 2019 Invited speaker FOURTH INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION STYLES CONFERENCE, University of Krosno, Poland.
•  October 22nd 25th 2019 Invited speaker University of Alicante, Spain International conference on Verbal Humour
• August 19th-20th 2019 Invited speaker University of Lille, France 8e Congrès de la Société Européenne de Littérature comparée
• 9th April 2019
  Invited speaker University of Messina "ELF, Multilingualism and Diversity"
  
• 4-5 April 2109
  Keynote speaker at: "Les Langues de l'humour" University Bourgogne Franche-Comte, Dijon, France.
  
• 29th March 2019 Annual Humour Research Conference, University of Texas A&M, USA "When the medium well and truly becomes the message".
  
• 20th March 2019.
  Seminario presso l'Università degli Studi di Roma "Tor Vergata "In difesa del Doppiaggio"
• 17th November 2018 Keynote speaker at: Symopsium "Political Humour in GB and USA" Martin Luther University, Halle-Wittenberg, Germany.
• 6-7th June 2018. keynote speaker at "Humor, Wit, and Knowledge" Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain.
• 24 - 26 May 2018 Keynote speaker at: “Legal Discourse: Context, Media and Social Power” University of Campania 'Luigi Vanvitelli', Caserta, Italy.
• 22 -24 May 2018Keynote speaker at the Festival of Translation,University of Ljublijana, Slovenia.
• 16th May 2018
  Invited Speaker at University College London: "Laughing at Disgust: Politics and Brown Humour".
• 27-28 April 2018 Keynote speaker at: “Talking about Food - Local & Global Contexts”, University of Bayreuth, Germany.
• 24 - 26 May 2018 Keynote speaker at: “Legal Discourse: Context, Media and Social Power” University of Campania 'Luigi Vanvitelli', Caserta, Ital
• 6-7 December 2017 International Symposium on Figurativity, University of Alicante, Spain.
•  31^st October 2017 Keynote speaker at international symposium: “The Hilarity of the Awful” - University of Uppsala, Sweden.July 2017 Presidential address & Keynote speaker at: International Society of Humor Studies Annual Conference, University of Montreal, Canada.
• November 2016 Guest speaker "A Taste of Italy on Screen" nell'ambito della Prima settimana della cucina italiana nel mondo (21-27 novembre 2016) Italian Embassy Helsinki (Finland) http://www.ambhelsinki.esteri.it/ambasciata_helsinki/it/ambasciata/news/dall_ambasciata/2016/11/prima-settimana-della-cucina-italiana.html
• October 2016Guest speaker on Humour and Translation at the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH) University of Cambridge, UK.
• September 2016 Keynote speaker al convegno internazionale: The Taboo Conference -TaCo 2016, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain.
• July 2016 Presedential address: International Society of Humor Studies Annual Conference Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.
• February 2016 Closing remarks al convegno internazionale: Linguistic and Cultural Representation in Audiovisual Translation, Università degli Studi Roma 3 & L'Università di Roma "La Sapienza".
• May 2015          Keynote speaker at Masculinities and Representations University of Naples, "L'Orientale", Naples.
•  January 2015     Invited speaker at  A Symposium on Italian Comedy Audiences Brunel University, London, UK .
  
• January 2015     Guest speaker at international conference:  Politics and Humour: Theory and Practice University of Kent, Canterbury UK.
• October 2014      Keynote speaker at  the European Commission in both Brussels and Luxembourg  as part of "Library Days" events aimed to celebrate the semester of Italian Presidency. 
• October 2014      Keynote speaker at international conference: Languaging Diversity University of Catania, Italy (http://www.languagingdiversity2014.unict.it/node/3).

• October 2014      Invited speaker at international conference:TRANSLATA 2014  University of Innsbruck, Austria (http://www.translata.info/).
• November 2013  Keynote speaker at international conference:IPCITI 2013 Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh, UK (http://www.ipciti.org.uk/index.php/previous-conferences/home/speakers2013).
• April 2012 Opening Keynote speaker at conference: Novel Insights In Audiovisual Translation University of Naples, Italy (http://www.iuo.it/index2.php?content_id=7012&content_id_start=3).
• December 2011 Closing Keynote speaker at conference: Translating Humor in Audiovisual Texts, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy (http://translatinghumorinavt.beepworld.it/programme.htm).
• June 2011 Invited speaker at 4th International Conference Media 4 All, Imperial College, London, UK. (http://www.imperial.ac.uk/humanities/translationgroup/mediaforall4/).
• March 2010 Keynote speaker at 1st International Symposium, University of Łódź, Poland, Linguistic Approaches to Funniness, Amusement and Laughter (http://ia.uni.lodz.pl/pragmatics/events/lafal).
• September 2007 Keynote speaker at conference: Translating voices, translating regions:Theory and Practice in Translation and Audiovisual Translation of Regionalized Voices University of Durham, UK.
• June 2007 Invited speaker at symposium Sprache und Humor Institut für fremdsprachliche Philologien Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg, Germany.
• May 2007 Keynote speaker at conference: Multidimensional Translation University of Vienna, Austria.
• September 2006 Invited Speaker at Symposium on Research Skills in TS and their acquisition University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.
• August 2005 Keynote speaker at MultiMediaDialectTrans 2005 International Conference on the Translation of Dialects in Multimedia University of Helsinki, Kouvola; Finland.
• May 2004    Invited speaker,  Humour and Translation : University of Roehampton, London, UK.
• April 2003   Invited speaker,  Humour in Translation -- English and Italian: University of Warwick, UK.

MEMBER OF EDITORIAL BOARDS

• Humor International Journal of Humor Research (Mouton De Gruyter  IMPACT FACTOR 2011: 0.857);
• European Journal of Humor Research (EJHR)
•  Interdisciplinary Studies in Humor; Universtity of Silesia, Poland.
• I-LanD Journal – Identity, Language and Diversity (Editor-in-chief) Available at: http://www.unior.it/index2.php?content_id=14038&content_id_start=1&titolo=i-land-research-centre&parLingua=ENG.
• The Israeli Journal of Humor Research: An International Journal (ISSN 2304-4489);
• MONTI Monographs in Translation and Interpreting (ISSN: 1989-9335);
  
• CULTUS The Journal of Intercultural Mediation and Communication (ISSN 2035-2948);
• ESP Across Cultures  (ISSN 1972-8247);
• Associate Editor of MediAzioni Rivista on-line di studi interdisciplinari su lingue e culture (ISSN 1974-4382)
• Associate Editor of book series ‘Topics in Humor Research' (John Benjamins).
• Editor of book series Voci dalla traduzione (University of Bologna, Bononia University Press) which comprises translations into Italian of significant works in Translation Studies.

 

 MEMBER OF INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH STEERING COMMITTES

2014 Steering commitee of HOP -- " Humours of the Past (HOP) Network" [AHRC funded (UK)].
2014 Brunel University, London. Centre for Comedy Studies,  Associate Researcher (http://www.brunel.ac.uk/cbass/social-sciences-media-communications/sociology/research/ccsr/members/affiliated-researchers).

REFEREE FOR INTERNATIONAL PEER REVIEWED JOURNALS

The Translator                                                                Routledge, London, UK;
Journal of Pragmatics                                                    John Benjamins, Amsterdam/Berlin;
Gender and Society                                                        Sage Journals, USA;
HUMOR: International Journal of Humor Research     De Gruyter, Berlin.