Dialects: are they easy to translate?

Translating a text from one language into

another is not always an easy process.
Especially when the original text has
some particular words, for example,
dialects.

Dacia Maraini’s famous novel “La lunga

Sicilian language
vita di Marianna Ucrìa” is a proof that
the process of translating requires much
“A translator ismore
an altruist, a knight.a foreign language at
than mastering
Andthelonely.”
highest levels. The book contains
some parts written in Sicilian language
Gabriela Lungu
that are very difficult to understand.

Difficulties

Gabriela Lungu is the one who

translated the book and can tell people
how complicated it was to translate
“Lunga viață a Mariannei Ucrìa”.
She first had to find the meaning of
the Sicilian words, translate them into
Italian and eventually into Romanian.

The purpose of the writer

and the translator

The Sicilian language was chosen

by the writer in order to give a very
detailed image of the Sicilian life in
1700. Gabriela Lungu’s job was to Gabriela Lungu, 2000,“Lunga viață a
keep the same image, that’s why Mariannei Ucrìa”, ed. Univers
she didn’t translate the Sicilian
Dacia Maraini,1990 “La lunga vita di
words, but added footnotes at the
Marianna Ucrìa”, ed. Rizzoli
bottom of the pages with their
explanation.