The translation of Watchmen: a job for superheroes?

This case study explores the many challenges that an audiovisual translator must face, conceiving translation as a means for diffusing culture. For that purpose, a case study is carried out on the Spanish translation of the 2019 series Watchmen, created by Damon Lindelof. Subtitles have been chossen for this analysis, due to the increasing popularity of this modality in Spain, as in other dubbing countries where a coexistence of dubbing and subtitling has been established (Perego et al., 2014).The study delves into the main translation difficulties posed by this series and is based on an interview held with the translator. In first place, Watchmen is a portray of the contemporary social and political society, digging into themes such as white supremacy, racism, war, and cultural attitudes. These deep historical roots in society may cause a cultural gap that must be overcome by the translator (Botella, 2017).Moreover, references to the comic are not only present in the dialogues —to be conveyed by the subtitler— but also in the visual and auditive signs that converge to create a multisemiotic complex. This study presents a categorisation of the challenges found and the solutions employed, to prove that the translator must be aware of the multiple codes of significance and acquire certain film knowledge. Therefore, to achieve difference and create from the ingenious mind, the translator must perform as a filmmaker or a cineliterate film viewer, rather than from a linguistic mind (McClarty, 2012).