Assignment 2

Part A. Analysis: Strategic Decisions.

The Source text, I traduttori, l’altruismo sottopagato is a journalistic opinion piece by Italian writer,
Paolo Di Stefano for the Milan based daily newspaper, Corriere Della Sera,on the occasion of the
International Day of Translation (September 30 2022). Di Stefano is an award-winning writer of short
stories, novels, poetry, critical literature, a journalist and academic and has been the editor of the
culture pages of the above newspaper where he now writes as a guest columnist. His work has been
translated into French and German, so while not a translator himself, he has worked with translators.
As a significant literary and journalistic figure, he has been commissioned to write the article
specifically for an Italian audience. This cultural specificity must take priority when producing the
translation.

An issue for the English translation is that there is no English writer referenced in the canon of
European literature. The temptation of adding an English example to the TT should, however be
resisted, as the brief is to translate the article for the Guardian, as an Italian perspective on the
translation profession.

Corriere Della Sera is considered the most widely read and influential newspaper in Italy, noted for its
independence with a middle class, educated and largely professional audience. The Guardian news
paper has an equivalent English language audience demographic.

The Source text, an argument for the acknowledgment of Translators as agents of civilisation and
thus worthy of decent pay and conditions, is an appeal to the educated audience of the newspaper,
which would include the heads of publishing houses in a position to determine the stipend of
translators.Di Stefano was himself the Editor of the publisher, Einaudi, so is in a position to influence
them.

The purpose and function of the Source Text is to raise awareness of the critical role role translators
play within society, particularly literary translators, and to advocate for a significant improvement in
their pay and conditions. Di Stefano understands translators as co- creators, through their work in
translating literary texts, introducing the seminal texts from diverse cultures, work they undertake as
a labour of love, a gift, which may take many years to achieve.

The social and tonal register is from the aspect of a highly educated writer addressing an educated
professional Italian audience, with the piece written in a literary style, with figurative language; i.e.
metaphor, simile and alliteration. Di Stefano quotes Boris Pasternak’s use of simile in his comparison
of the original and the translation, as resembling the propagation of an offshoot from the original
plant. He also employs metaphor in his discussion of the difficulties in attempting to quantify
translations of diverse writers, ( una cartella di Proust non è una cartella di Pennac. ) He references
writers from the European canon, such as Proust, Dostoyevsky etc, with the assumption that his
audience will be familiar with them. Sentences are long and complex but the headline short, as is the
Italian way.

Of priority in the translation is maintaining the core message and the literary style through a
balanced translation but where necessary, particularising constructions that may be confusing for an
English TA. For example, when translating, dove il nostro capolavoro è ancora semisconosciuto, for
an English newspaper, one might rather clarify that the masterpiece is an Italian masterpiece, rather
than ours. Similarly, while an educated Guardian audience is likely to be familiar with the greats of
European literature referenced in the piece, they may not know the Russian poet Josef Brodsky, thus
the addition of Russian poet, in the translation will not lead to unacceptable translation loss. For
those also unfamiliar with Pennac, the option of a translator’s footnote may be considered.

The brief headline, while consistent with SL conventions, does not fit the usual style of headlines in
English, so will require some additions and grammatical reorganisation to be comfortable for TL
readers.

As the ST is written for a specific educated Italian audience and references the European literary
canon, this cultural specificity will take priority in the translation process, but with additional
clarification and particularisation when required for a TT audience.

The following translation is above all a communicative translation where the TT adopts a TL bias
while preserving the integrity of the ST.

Altruistic, invisible and underpaid; how the crucial work of translators is under undervalued.

Di Paolo Di Stefano
(translation, M Forster)

The International Day of Translation (September 30) passed almost without notice. While the
profession of translation is invaluable and irreplaceable by technology, particularly literary
translation, it remains an occupation without work rights and largely invisible within society. This is
especially the case in Italy.

In Italy we translate a lot, but translators are underpaid without even a minimum wage. The
situation is further complicated because the work of translation is difficult to quantify; a bag of
Proust is not a bag of Pennac. It is work that requires finesse and effort, inventiveness and
craftsmanship, and involves a great deal more than the transfer of words from one language to
another. Apart from words there are concepts and sounds and above all, the relationship between
image and rhythm, i.e., style.

For Pasternak, the original and the translation resemble the plant and the propagation of its
offshoot. The translation is the offshoot destined to become autonomous, while at the same time
preserving the essence of the mother plant. The twentieth century Russian poet Josef Brodsky
claimed that literary translation is “the mother of civilisation”: it introduces Dostoyevsky to non-
Russians, Proust to the non-French, Goethe to the non-German and, Manzoni to non-Italians. Right
now, after ten years work, the American translator, Michael Moore is about to publish a new version
of Manzoni’s great novel, Promessi sposi (The Betrothed) in the United States, where the Italian
masterpiece is still little known.
Translation is a profession of total altruism, but it is not without cost. Too many experienced
translators lament that they barely earn the paltry wage of a first time cleaner.
Decisions of detail

One of the difficulties presented by the translation is that the ST is addressed to a specific Italian
audience within an Italian cultural context, its socio- cultural context is the plight of Italian translators
from the perspective of an Italian literary figure. Di Stefano addresses an Italian audience with the
pronouns we and our when referring to Italian literary works such as Manzoni’s Promessi Sposi , thus
the issue of cultural specificity is solved through using the hyponym , Italian to clarify that Manzoni is
an Italian writer and that the work is Italian rather than “ ours”.

Conversely, when translating, Da noi si traduce moltissimo, (We translate a lot) particularisation is
employed with the addition of in Italy, which clarifies who we are for the Target audience. The we is
maintained but modified by the addition.

At a grammatical level communicative translation is adopted, with the ST sentence structure

replaced with a TL construction. For example, the structure of the first sentence,
È passata nel silenzio generale la giornata internazionale della traduzione (30 settembre), becomes,

The International Day of Translation (September 30) passed almost without notice. The phrase nel
silenzio generale is translated as “Almost without notice” as the literal translation, in a general
silence is awkward in the English idiom.

TL sentences generally do not begin with a verb so in translating such grammatical

structures a TL bias will prevail in the TT. When translating the ST headline,
I traduttori, l’altruismo sottopagato, the strategy is also communicative with a bias to the TL, while
maintaining the essence of the ST.

Altruistic, invisible and underpaid; how the crucial work of translators is under undervalued.

The invisibility and undervaluing of translators is implicit in the ST, thus this communicative
translation makes it explicit for the TT audience while also creating a headline more suited to the TL
audience.

An anglicised spelling of the name of Russian poet Josef Brodsky is preferred in the translation
rather than the Russian in the ST, as such exoticism in the TT is an unnecessary distraction.

The problem of translating, una cartella di Proust non è una cartella di Pennac, is addressed by
Translating una cartella as a bag. Several dictionary translations of una cartella, provide borsa as an
option ( bag in English)so while not perfect there is the idea of quantity; I.e. a quantity(bag) of Proust
is not equal to a quantity(bag) of Pennac.

In conclusion, the overall strategy of the translation, to maintain the essence, structure and style of
the ST and its message, which is achieved through maintaining the macro structure of the ST, but
adopting a TL bias with; headline, sentence structure and addressing cultural specificity through
particularisation and communicative translation.