Translating gender, transgender and identity. The case of NatGeo

The investigation deals with the issue of how the notions of gender, transgender and identity are translated from English into Italian in a case study. This requires a translation of the notions of otherness and identity, which is extremely relevant if the society of the target language and culture is not yet prepared to speak about such issues, particularly when this is mediated through media discourse that plays an outstanding role in shaping public opinion and strengthening society. Maci’s analysis draws from Translation Studies with a Critical Discourse Analysis approach and a sociosemiotic analytical model investigation, with the aim of investigating the way in which the issues of gender, transgender and identity among young and adult people are dealt with in the 2017 January issue of NatGeo in its English and Italian versions. The results suggest that while in the translated text, attention has been paid to the different cultural contexts targeted, at times such attention has been overwhelmingly prudent, to such an extent that different texts have been created.