Sohár Anikó (szerk.): Varietas delectat • A PPKE Hieronymus Fordítástudományi Kutatócsoportjának tanulmánykötete
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Harmadik rész. Fordítás és nyelvhasználat • Part Three. Translation and language use
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Translating Non-Standard Varieties: Andrea Camilleri in English • Giulia Magazzù
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3. Camilleri in Translation
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3.1. The Narrative Voice and Free Indirect Speech

3.1. The Narrative Voice and Free Indirect Speech

Jegyzet elhelyezéséhez, kérjük, lépj be.!

The first chapter of L’odore della notte opens with Montalbano’s awakening caused by a shutter slamming outside the window of his bedroom (Table 1). The verb slammed in Sartarelli’s version is the translation of sbattì. The same procedure is used with verbs such as s’arrisbigliò, s’arricordò, aveva addeciso, principiò, which are rendered respectively with standard English as woke up, reminisced, decided and began. Nouns such as sciato and moccaro, are translated as breath and mucus. It is relevant to note that from the first pages Sartarelli prefers standard English renderings for the narrative voice; the English equivalents, in fact, belong to standard language. It is inevitable that the non-standard elements of the source text are lost. In her analysis, Gutkowski (2009) argues that the translator might have opted for less standard terms, such as snot rather than mucus, which has a more scientific connotation. Yet, as seen before, Sartarelli (2009) himself stated that he preferred to maintain the fluency and naturalness of the discourse rather than creating a linguistic mishmash, which could negatively affect the quality of Camilleri’s stories.
 

Jegyzet elhelyezéséhez, kérjük, lépj be.!

Table 1
Original text
English translation
La persiana della finestra spalancata sbattì tanto forte contro il muro che parse una pistolettata e Montalbano, che in quel priciso momento si stava sognando d’essiri impegnato in un conflitto a fuoco, s’arrisbigliò di colpo sudatizzo e, ’nzemmula, agghiazzato dal friddo. Si susì santiando e corse a chiudere.
[…]
Si fece forza, si susì e raprì l’anta dell’armuar dove c’era la roba pesante. Il feto di un quintale o quasi di naftalina l’assugliò alla sprovista. Prima gli mancò il sciato, poi gli occhi gli lagrimiarono e quindi principiò a stranutare. Di stranuti ne fece dodici a fila, col moccaro che gli colava dal naso, la testa intronata e sintendosi sempre più indolenzire la cassa toracica
(L’odore della notte, 9–10).
The shutter outside the wide-open window slammed so hard against the wall that it sounded like a gunshot. Montalbano, who at that moment was dreaming he was in a shoot-out, suddenly woke up, sweaty and at the same time freezing cold. He got up, cursing, and ran to close everything.
[…]
Making an effort, he got up and opened the armoire where he kept his heavy clothes. The stink of several tons of mothballs assailed his nostrils. At first it took his breath away, then his eyes started watering and he began to sneeze. He sneezed some twelve times in a row, mucus running down from his nose, head ringing, the pain in his chest growing sharper and sharper
(The Scent of the Night, 3–4).
 

Jegyzet elhelyezéséhez, kérjük, lépj be.!

In many cases, despite using standard language, Sartarelli renders the idea conveyed in the source text faithfully enough, drawing on colourful terms and expressions belonging to a more colloquial register, as in the case below (Table 2). Si sbafò is translated as he wolfed down; sbafarsi stands for eating greedily and abundantly, while to wolf down means eating something very quickly and in big pieces. On the other hand, the translated equivalent of liccò, which stands for flirting73, is he reveled in, which means gaining pleasure from an activity. Though not perfect equivalents, the English verbs used by Sartarelli give the target text the same nuance of meaning that can be found in the original.
 

Jegyzet elhelyezéséhez, kérjük, lépj be.!

Table 2
Original text
English translation
Conzò il tavolino della verandina e si sbafò la caponatina mentre il pasticcio si quadiava. Appresso, si liccò col pasticcio
He set the table on the veranda and wolfed down the caponata as the pasticcio was heating up. Then he reveled in the pasticcio
(La luna di carta, 32).
(The Paper Moon, 37).
 

Jegyzet elhelyezéséhez, kérjük, lépj be.!

Sartarelli decides to “neutralise” (Berezowski, 1997) the non-standard variety of the source text and to translate it with the standard language also in the case of the free indirect speech, which gives voice to Montalbano s thoughts and points of view. The free indirect speech presents more features of orality than the narrative voice; the features are maintained by Sartarelli, who endeavours to reproduce the same irony the reader can find in the source text (Table 3).
 

Jegyzet elhelyezéséhez, kérjük, lépj be.!

Table 3
Original text
English translation
Macari questa ci voleva a conzargli bona la giornata! Lui che trimava di friddo e Livia che sinni stava biatamente stinnicchiata al sole! Ecco un’altra prova che il mondo non firriava più come prima. Ora al nord si moriva di càvudo e al sud arrivavano le gelate, gli orsi, i pinguini
This was all he needed to make his day. Here he was, shivering with cold, while Livia would be lying blissfully in the sun. Still further proof that the world was no longer turning the way it used to. Now up north you died of heat, and down south you’d soon be seeing ice, bears and penguins
(L’odore della notte, 12).
(The Scent of the Night, 6).
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