ABSTRACT

This chapter argues for a move away from questions of representation in feminist translation studies (FTS). It does so by distancing itself from a widespread concern in the discipline with how gender difference and sexual identity operate in the activity of linguistic transfer, to generate either progressive or conservative, inclusive or exclusive translation products. The chapter focuses on the "It Gets Better" project, a multilingual YouTube campaign initiated in the US. Localisation is a particular "translation modality" defined by the linguistic and cultural adaptation of a product or format for local distribution. Thus, the Italian localisation of this online campaign can be considered a translated text with peculiar characteristics. Through the critical examination of this localisation as a translation, the chapter expands the understanding of the relationship between nonconforming sexualities, transnational circulations of concepts (e.g. that of "sexual identity politics") and globalisation.