Ad Translation

The slogan, "Smetti di sognare. Apri gli occhi! (Hai tempo fino al 31 maggio per questa golosa opportunítà)," translates as "Stop dreaming. Open your eyes! (You have until 31 May for this tempting opportunity.)" The translation itself, from Italian to English, is straight-forward and easy. However, when I begin to apply the sub-text, the context of this advertisement, I found my problem. How do I, to apply Lefevre's terminology, 'refract' this language, and how do I so in a manner that still preserves its original agenda? But how does an ice cream truck and the slogan above correlate? Again, how is this slogan enticing. That is, how the hell is the slogan a viable marketing agent for an ice cream truck?

I began to consider the ad as more culturally colloquial rather than culturally literal. That is, I view the ad as a parallel (though a seemingly odd one) to certain car and/or entrepreneurial ads in America--especially with regards to the commercialization of "As Seen on TV" products.  Though a bit tongue-in-cheek and trite, the market for these products continue. It seems people are, for whatever reason, quite drawn to this type of cliched and cheesy propaganda. In a consumer-based economy, I understand that, perhaps, it isn't necessarily the product that is the object of desire, but the unconscious need to consume and take possession of what we (as an American culture) are without.

 So when approaching this translation, I had to decide how self-imposing and culturally effacing I wanted to be in my transposition. I decided to embrace Foster's theoretical approach to translation: preserve its "universality," as well as its "temporal and cultural specificity" (Damrosch, 424). This is my (re)creation: If you open your eyes, you can make your dreams a reality.