Original scientific paper

Local Idioms and Stylistic Principles

Antonela Marić ; Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta u Splitu
Marijana Alujević ; Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta u Splitu

Abstract

The paper analyses the translated texts of two Mediterranean authors, Miljenko Smoje and Carlo Goldoni, focusing in particular on the ability of translators to preserve the original stylistic, and in particular features of buffoonery in the Chronicle of our little place and Le baruffe chiozzotte. The examined texts were originally written in local dialects, in Chakavian and respectively in Venetian idiom, preserving wit and sceneries, as well as the humour and features of the local mentality, typical for Mediterranean comunities. Miljenko Smoje chooses the Chakavic idiom, spoken mainly in the locality of Split, considering the standard to be artificial, whereas the translator of the Chronicle Antonio Ingravalle, decides to replace the local idiom with the standard Italian. On the other hand, Ivo Tijardović chooses the Chakavian, again spoken in the Dalmatian Split, to translate Goldoni’s Le baruffe chiozzotte. Being a great success, it was afterwards adapted onto the dialect of Vis, Kvarner and Dubrovnik. The authors of the paper examined to what extent the standard succeeded in keeping the original style, and if the translation was impoverished by the selection of standard, arguing that keeping the dialect in translation could have been a better option. The deviations in the transfer of important elements of style, with emphasis on the original features of humour written in Smoje’s native vernacular of Split, seem to be particularly interesting. The selection of local dialects in Le baruffe chiozzotte, on the other hand, was a more fortunate choice, and contributed to better reception by the local audience. By examination and comparison of the two texts, the conclusion could be drawn, that only the use of the vernacular, both because of the lexical correspondence and the stylistic features, seem to be the correct choice for conveyance of the idiomatic elements. The original vernacular, with rich stylistic expressiveness, is typical for the Mediterranean environment, which makes it a natural choice for conveyance of cultural context and original stylistic features contained in the source languages they are being translated from.

Keywords

Mediterranean; vernacular; idiomatic elements; humour; stylistic features; translation; standard

Hrčak ID:

213408

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/213408

Publication date:

17.12.2018.

Article data in other languages: croatian italian

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