The present work analyses stylistic differences between two fairly recent English versions of Le avventure di Pinocchio by C. Collodi (1881/1883), carried out by two academics, i.e. Rosenthal (1983), an American poet who was commissioned the translation by the Fondazione Collodi to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the book, and Lawson Lucas (1996), whose translation was published by Oxford University Press. The introductory sections of the two translations indeed highlight that both of them attempt to 1) be faithful to the Italian source (in Rosenthal’s words “true” to it) as much as possible, 2) rediscover the authentic nature of the original tale, getting away, for example, from deviant versions such as the popular one proposed by Walt Disney, 3) make it more accessible to contemporary English-speaking readers. Despite their several shared concerns, though, the translations in fact vary in many ways in their overall styles. They appear to offer different perspectives on the events of the story, with distinct effects being proposed to the readership by way of various linguistic choices. In more detail, this essay first presents an account of the main translation guidelines as stated in the texts’ respective introductory sections, with some hints at past criticism levelled at the translations too. Then, it focuses on the comparison of linguistic devices that are responsible for the stylistic variation between the texts which has been mentioned above.
Style at work in two English translations of Pinocchio
MASI, SILVIA
2010-01-01
Abstract
The present work analyses stylistic differences between two fairly recent English versions of Le avventure di Pinocchio by C. Collodi (1881/1883), carried out by two academics, i.e. Rosenthal (1983), an American poet who was commissioned the translation by the Fondazione Collodi to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the book, and Lawson Lucas (1996), whose translation was published by Oxford University Press. The introductory sections of the two translations indeed highlight that both of them attempt to 1) be faithful to the Italian source (in Rosenthal’s words “true” to it) as much as possible, 2) rediscover the authentic nature of the original tale, getting away, for example, from deviant versions such as the popular one proposed by Walt Disney, 3) make it more accessible to contemporary English-speaking readers. Despite their several shared concerns, though, the translations in fact vary in many ways in their overall styles. They appear to offer different perspectives on the events of the story, with distinct effects being proposed to the readership by way of various linguistic choices. In more detail, this essay first presents an account of the main translation guidelines as stated in the texts’ respective introductory sections, with some hints at past criticism levelled at the translations too. Then, it focuses on the comparison of linguistic devices that are responsible for the stylistic variation between the texts which has been mentioned above.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
