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Chiara ArcutiRome, Dec. 17, 2018The translation of Giacomo Leopardi’sZibaldone

Is translation an easy task?How would you translate this expression?A piece of cake……………………………………… And this one?The exam was a piece of cake……………………………………………………………What happened?

Should we trust machine translation?Every man and his dog………………………………………………Every man and his dog went to the party last night! ………………………………………………………………………..………………

Translating literatureTranslators are the shadow heroes of literature, the often forgotten instruments that make it possible for different cultures to talk to one another , who have enabled us to understand that we all , from every part of the world, live in one world. Paul Auster (2011)

A few cases from Leopardi’s ZibaldoneHo detto che un color piacevole, malamente si chiama bello, come non si ponno chiamar belli i sapori che piacciono. Osservo ed aggiungo che la categoria del bello spetta più a’ sapori che ai colori. I sapori hanno armonia, cioè convenienza, la quale se non si chiama bellezza, ciò non deriva che dal costume. [Z 1637]Le parole che per se stesse sono meri suoni, e così le lingue intere, in tanto sono segni delle idee, e servono alla loro significazione, in quanto gli uomini convengono scambievolmente di applicarle a tale e tale idea, e riconoscerle per segni di essa. [Z 1202]E la lingua italiana dovrebbe adottare le dette voci senza timore di corrompersi più di quello che si sieno corrotte coll’adottarle, [1226] tutte le altre lingue europee. […] Con ciò non vengo mica a dire ch’ella debba, anzi pur possa adoperare, e molto meno profondere siffatte voci nella bella letteratura e massime nella poesia. Non v’è bontà dove non è convenienza. Alle scienze son buone e convengono le voci precise, alla bella letteratura le proprie.  [Z 1226]

The official translationI have said [→Z 1663–65] that a pleasant color is wrongly called beautiful, just as pleasurable tastes cannot be called beautiful. I further observe that the category of the beautiful is more relevant to flavors than to colors. Flavors have harmony , that is , they match , and if this is not called beauty it is only because of custom. Words , which in themselves are mere sounds , and entire languages , too , are only signs for ideas and serve to signify them insofar as men mutually agree to apply them to a given idea and to recognize them as signs for it . And the Italian language should adopt those words without fear of being corrupted , any more than [1226] all the other European languages were corrupted when they adopted them . […] By which I absolutely do not mean that Italian should or even could employ , still less lavish such words in literature , especially in poetry . If things are not appropriate they are not good . In the sciences , precise words are appropriate and good , but in literature it is the right words .

Different corpora for different languages and different purposesGeneral corpora:BNC: British National CorpusCOCA: Corpus of Contemporary American EnglishCOHA: Corpus of Historical American EnglishCORIS/CODIS: Corpus di Italiano ScrittoSpecific corpora

Corpus studiesAim:Corpus studies interrogate computer-readable texts in a variety of ways, with the intention of tracing patterns and common features across large amounts of data (Baker, 1995) Search for universals.Problems:The available corpora cover only a limited number of languages and usually lack a historical dimension. However , corpora enabled researchers to identify the author of a translation . Translators leave their individual linguistic signature on texts belonging to very different genres and originally written in different languages (Mona Baker, 2000).

How can a corpus help a translator?Fresh water

Using corpora in translationA piece of cake

Translating literatureThere is a difference between Ted Hughes’ rendering of a play by Aeschylus and the English-language label on the packet of white powder in a Greek supermarket identifying the stuff in it, for the tourist’s sake and good health, as sugar, salt, detergent or rat poison . Theo Hermans (2007: 77)

What is peculiar about translating literature?«Literature» and «literary» tend to imply aesthetic purpose, together with a degree of durability and the presence of intended stylistic effects, so ‘literary translation’ is read as conventionally distinguished from ‘technical translation’ (Classe, 2000)Literary translations are translations designed to be read as literature (France, 2000) Literature is characterised by the presence of a secondary , literary code superimposed on a stratum of unmarked language ( Toury , 1980)

What to keep in mind when translating a literary textStylea translation should reflect the style of the original text but others say that a translation should have the style of the translator. Messages over meaningIn general, in literary translation we translate messages , not meanings .  Form (in poetry ) In poetry , form is as essential to preserve as content .  If the form is not preserved then neither is the poetry . Faithfulness We should have in mind that we should always be faithful to the meaning of the original poem ! (Ana Ramos Calvo) ( Sosng Xiaoxhu-Cheng Dongming , 2003)

Lo Zibaldone di pensieriWritten between 1817 and 1832 by Giacomo LeopardiWhat kind of text is it?Diary?Manuscript?Notebook?Leopardi describes it as a «series of personal thoughts»

The Zibaldone ProjectA project carried out by Franco D’Intino and Michael Caesar together with a team of seven translators (Kathleen Baldwin, Richard Dixon, David Gibbons, Ann Goldstein, Gerard Slowey, Martin Thom, Pamela Williams) The project started in 2003 (even though the translation works started in 2005)Not only a translation but also a critical edition The book was published in 2013 in the USA and the UK Great success

The main problems with the translation of Leopardi’s ZibaldoneStyle Maintaining a uniform style in a team translationSyntaxLong sentencesMeaningless sentencesLexisArchaic words (often incomprehensible)Words with different meanings in different contexts

How could these problems be solved?General rules for the syntax and case by case studySometimes it was possible to stick to the Italian syntactic structuresOther times, D’Intino would recommend splitting the sentences into shorter ones (more in line with the English syntactic standards ) In some other cases , the translators had to discuss together about best solution to the problem . D’ Intino’s support was crucial in these cases . Here are some examples :

Syntactic issuesQuesto avviene perchè ora si viene da un tempo corrotto (oltrechè si sta pure tra’ corrotti) e bisogna porre il più grande studio per evitare la corruzione, principalmente quella del tempo la quale prima che abbiamo pensato a guardarcene s’è impadronita di noi, e poi quella dei tempi passati, perchè adesso conosciamo tutti i vizi delle arti e ce ne vogliamo guardare, e non siamo più semplici come erano i greci e i latini e i trecentisti e i cinquecentisti perchè siamo passati pel tempo di corruzione e siamo divenuti astuti nell’arte, e schiviamo i vizi con questa astuzia e coll’arte non colla natura come faceano gli antichi i quali senza saperne più che tanto pure perchè l’arte era in sul principio e non ancora corrotta non gli schivavano ma non ci cadevano. [Zibaldone, 4]

SolutionThis is happening because we live today in a time of corruption (as well as among corrupt people) and we have to study as hard as possible to avoid corruption, particularly that of our own time, which takes hold of us before we can avoid it , and also that of the past , because we now know all the vices of art and want to protect ourselves against them . We no longer have the simplicity of the Greeks and Romans or the writers of the 14th and 16th centuries , because we have passed through the time of corruption and have become cunning in our art. We avoid those vices with our cunning and our art, not with nature’s help, as the ancients did , who did not know much about them , but who , because art was in its infancy and still not corrupted , neither avoided nor fell into such vices .

Lexical issuesD’Intino’s «mini-dictionary», a brief dictionary of some of the most difficult or controversial words.Here is an example :Felice/infelice = happy (df), fortunate vedi Z4277 dove significa piuttosto «sfortunato» e controllare tutte le occorrenze per es. Z339? (tricky) *unfortunate, *miserable – vedi 3448 ss sui drammi di lieto fine – vedi anche *tristo*……………………………………

Let’s translate a passage together!Alla p.1950. La piena e perfetta imitazione è ciò che costituisce l’essenza della perfetta traduzione, come altrove ho detto. Or questo è ciò che sa fare la nostra lingua, e che non può la tedesca, essendo altro il contraffare, altro l’imitare. (25. Ott. 1821.).

Check it out…For p. 1950. Full and perfect imitation is what constitutes the essence of perfect translation, as I have said elsewhere [→Z 319–20, 1947–50]. Now, this is what our language can do, and German cannot, since it is one thing to counterfeit , but quite another to imitate . (25 Oct . 1821.)

Further observationsQuindi le parole precise convengono a questi, e sconvengono per lo più a quelli; a dirittura l’uno a l’altro. Allo scienziato le parole più convenienti sono le più precise, ed esprimenti un’idea più nuda. Al poeta e al letterato per lo contrario le parole più vaghe, ed esprimenti idee più incerte, o un maggior numero d’idee ec. Queste almeno gli denno esser le più care, e quelle altre che sono l’estremo opposto, le più odiose. V. p.1234. capoverso 1. e 1312. capoverso 2. Ho detto e ripeto che i termini in letteratura e massime in poesia faranno sempre pessimo e bruttissimo effetto. [Z 1226]Hence precise words are appropriate to the latter and not to the former, each is exactly the opposite of the other. For a scientist, the most appropriate words are those which are more precise and express a barer idea. For the poet and man of letters, on the contrary , words that are vaguer and express more uncertain ideas , or a greater number of ideas , etc. These , at any rate, must be the dearest to him , and the others , which are the extreme opposite, the most hateful . See pp. 1234, paragraph 1 and 1312, paragraph 2. I have said already , and will repeat here that in literature , and poetry especially , terms will always have a very bad and ugly impact.

A particular case: sentences in a different languageΠρώτον μὲν ᾦν χρὴ τοῦτο γινώσκεινὅτι ὁ μὲν ἀγαθὸς ἀνὴρ οὐκ εὐθέως (idcirco, luego, non statim, come rende il Gesnero) εὐδαίμων ἐξ ἀνάγκας ἐστίν. Architas Pythagoreus, de viro bono et beato  ap . Stob ., serm . I, ed. Gesner . Basileae 1549. p. 13. [ Zibaldone 4152 ]

D’Intino’s editing processΠρώτον μὲν ᾦν χρὴ τοῦτο γινώσκεινὅτι ὁ μὲν ἀγαθὸς ἀνὴρ οὐκ εὐθέως (idcirco, luego, non statim, come rende il Gesnero) εὐδαίμων ἐξ ἀνάγκας ἐστίν . Architas Pythagoreus, de viro bono et beato ap. Stob ., serm . I, ed. Gesner . Basileae 1549. p. 13. [ Zibaldone 4152 ] [ GK ] Πρῶτον μὲν ὦν χρὴ τοῦτο γινώσκειν ὅτι ὁ μὲν ἀγαθὸς ἀνὴρ οὐκ εὐθέως ” ( idcirco , luego , [ on that account, subsequently ] not statim [ immediately ], as Gessner translates ) [ GK ] εὐδαίμων ἐξ ἀνάγκας ἐστίν ” [ GREEK EDIT ] [ “ One should consider first that the man who is rich is not necessarily on that account happy ???”]. Archytas the Pythagorean [???], de viro bono et beato , in Stobaeus , serm . 1 , ed. Gessner , Basel [ sic in English? standardize , I think we went elsewhere for “ Basel ” FD ] 1549, p. 13.

Final translation[GK]Πρῶτον μὲν ὦν χρὴ τοῦτο γινώσκειν ὅτι ὁ μὲν ἀγαθὸς ἀνὴρ οὐκ εὐθέως ” ( idcirco , luego , [ on that account, subsequently ] not statim [ immediately ], as Gessner translates ) [ GK ] εὐδαίμων ἐξ ἀνάγκας ἐστίν ” [ GREEK EDIT ] [ “ One should consider first that the man who is rich is not necessarily on that account happy ???”]. Archytas the Pythagorean [???], de viro bono et beato , in Stobaeus , serm . 1 , ed. Gessner , Basel [ sic in English? standardize , I think we went elsewhere for “ Basel ” FD ] 1549, p. 13. [ P Stobaeus 1549 check Rome BNC ] “ Πρῶτον μὲν ὦν χρὴ τοῦτο γινώσκειν ὅτι ὁ μὲν ἀγαθὸς ἀνὴρ οὐκ εὐθέως ” ( idcirco , luego , not statim , as Gessner translates ) “ εὐδαίμων ἐξ ἀνάγκας ἐστίν ” [“ One should consider first that the man who is rich is not on that account” (on that account, subsequently , not immediately , as Gessner translates ) “ necessarily happy”]. Archytas the Pythagorean , De viro bono et beato, in Stobaeus , discourse 1, ed. Gessner , Basel 1549, p. 13.

Translating poetry: the opening passage of the ZibaldonePalazzo bello. Cane di notte dal casolare, al passar del viandante.Era la luna nel cortile, un latoTutto ne illuminava, e discendeaSopra il contiguo lato obliquo un raggio...Nella (dalla) maestra via s’udiva il carro Del passegger, che stritolando i sassi,Mandava un suon, cui precedea da lungiIl tintinnìo de’ mobili sonagli. [Z 1]

The translation into English[1] Palazzo Bello. Dog in the night from the farmhouse, as the wayfarer goes by.—Era la luna nel cortile, un latoTutto ne illuminava, e discendeaSopra il contiguo lato obliquo un raggio … Nella (dalla) maestra via s’udiva il carroDel passegger, che stritolando i sassi,Mandava un suon, cui precedea da lungiIl tintinnio de’ mobili sonagli.[The moon shone in the yard, one sideIn its full light, and a moonbeam Slanting obliquely down the next … On (from) the highway you could hear The traveler’s carriage crunching on the stones , And before that , from a long way off, The jingling of harness bells .]

ConclusionsTranslating is not an easy taskTranslators are not mere machines, but proper writers and critics who try to understand a text and rewrite it in a different languageWe need to keep in mind different rules, especially when translating literature . It’s not just translating words, but writing a piece that tends to recreate the aesthetic value of the original one. The examples from the Zibaldone show what sort of problems a translator may face when translating , and how possible it is to solve them . Lastly , like D’Intino reminded us , there is no perfect translation . There are good achievements , but reading the target text over and over again , you could always find better solutions .

Questionsand Answers

References Bazzurro, L.. (2015). Some Thoughts on Literary Translation. Translation Journal. (available online: https://translationjournal.net/April-2015/some-thoughts-on-literary-translation.html) Hermans, T. (ed.) (1985a) Second Hand: Papers on the Theory and Historical Study of Literary Translation . Antwerp: ALW. Hu , K (2016).  Introducing Corpus- based Translation Studies . New York: Springer . Jakobson , R . (1959/2012) ‘On linguistic aspects of translation ’, in L. Venuti (ed.) (2012) Kuhiwczak , P and Littau , K. (2007).  A Companion to Translation Studies . Clevedon , Buffalo, Toronto: MULTILINGUAL MATTERS LTD. 77-91. Leopardi, G. (2013).  Zibaldone . New York: Farrar Straus & Giroux . Leopardi, G. (2016).  Zibaldone . Newton Compton. Munday , J (2016).  Introducing Translation Studies . New York: Routledge . Ramos Calvo, A. Teoría y Práctica de la Traducción Literaria , Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. ( available online: http://www.hottopos.com/mirand8/anaramo.htm ) Xiaoshu-Cheng Dongming , (2003) S. Translation of Literary Styles ,, School of Economics , Changchun, China ( available online: https://translationjournal.net/journal/23style.htm )