This chapter discusses a number of relevant case studies tackling the theme of sex. It shows how and to what extent both mainstream and independent translations of underground comix published from the 1960s onwards largely misinterpreted and manipulated the original underground representation and satire. The representation of sex was a thorny issue within the counterculture at large (Hekma and Giami 2014; Braunstein and Doyle 2002). Underground comix visually represented all its facets and contradictions. They focused on social and political dynamics, such as those expressed during the 1960s’ sexual revolution, but also on individual aspects, including what might be considered as socially unacceptable practices. At the same time, inspired by the Women’s Liberation Movement, female underground cartoonists explored sexuality from a feminist perspective and brought attention to the male chauvinism of the comics industry. Robert Crumb’s satire is perhaps the most well-known example of the various interpretations of the theme of sex within the underground comix scene. In Italy, Crumb’s comix were the first to reach the market, the most frequently translated, and the ones that suffered the harshest forms of manipulation. Examples from Crumb’s vast body of works are used to show forms of manipulation, from explicit visual and verbal censorship to banal reframing of its mordent satire to fit the all-Italian tradition of slapstick comedy, the ‘commedia sexy all’italiana’ films and its comics counterpart (e.g., Il Tromba, Lando, Il Montatore). In addition to the examples of omission of the original contents, this chapter shows how Crumb’s witty style and subversive contents, his complex Freudian references and social criticism were frequently mitigated, even lost in translation in favour of more reassuring, light-hearted hermeneutic frames. In other cases, owing to negligence or lack of expertise, translators actually described the images rather than focusing on the original verbal message. Examples taken from the works of other underground authors (S. Clay Wilson and Vaughn Bodé, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Lee Marrs, Joyce Farmer, and Roberta Gregory) show how all these tendencies can be detected in most of the translations of underground comix about sexual contents (even in the few cases in which feminist and lesbian contents were addressed), thus suggesting that the lack of adequate knowledge of the source materials, as well as deliberate editorial choices led to a general misunderstanding of how the theme of sex was developed in the source underground comix.

Lust in Translation Between Omission and Banalisation

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发表日期：

2025年

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Chiara Polli

摘要

This chapter discusses a number of relevant case studies tackling the theme of sex. It shows how and to what extent both mainstream and independent translations of underground comix published from the 1960s onwards largely misinterpreted and manipulated the original underground representation and satire. The representation of sex was a thorny issue within the counterculture at large (Hekma and Giami 2014; Braunstein and Doyle 2002). Underground comix visually represented all its facets and contradictions. They focused on social and political dynamics, such as those expressed during the 1960s’ sexual revolution, but also on individual aspects, including what might be considered as socially unacceptable practices. At the same time, inspired by the Women’s Liberation Movement, female underground cartoonists explored sexuality from a feminist perspective and brought attention to the male chauvinism of the comics industry. Robert Crumb’s satire is perhaps the most well-known example of the various interpretations of the theme of sex within the underground comix scene. In Italy, Crumb’s comix were the first to reach the market, the most frequently translated, and the ones that suffered the harshest forms of manipulation. Examples from Crumb’s vast body of works are used to show forms of manipulation, from explicit visual and verbal censorship to banal reframing of its mordent satire to fit the all-Italian tradition of slapstick comedy, the ‘commedia sexy all’italiana’ films and its comics counterpart (e.g., Il Tromba, Lando, Il Montatore). In addition to the examples of omission of the original contents, this chapter shows how Crumb’s witty style and subversive contents, his complex Freudian references and social criticism were frequently mitigated, even lost in translation in favour of more reassuring, light-hearted hermeneutic frames. In other cases, owing to negligence or lack of expertise, translators actually described the images rather than focusing on the original verbal message. Examples taken from the works of other underground authors (S. Clay Wilson and Vaughn Bodé, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Lee Marrs, Joyce Farmer, and Roberta Gregory) show how all these tendencies can be detected in most of the translations of underground comix about sexual contents (even in the few cases in which feminist and lesbian contents were addressed), thus suggesting that the lack of adequate knowledge of the source materials, as well as deliberate editorial choices led to a general misunderstanding of how the theme of sex was developed in the source underground comix.