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Translating Mimesis of Orality

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Translating Mimesis of Orality Translating mimesis of orality: Robert Frost’s poetry in Catalan and Italian Marcello Giugliano TESI DOCTORAL UPF / ANY 2012 DIRECTORS DE LA TESI Dra. Victòria Alsina Dr. Dídac Pujol DEPARTAMENT DE TRADUCCIÓ I CIÈNCIES DEL LLENGUATGE Ai miei genitori Acknowledgements My first thank you goes to my supervisors, Dr. Victòria Alsina and Dr. Dídac Pujol. Their critical guidance, their insightful comments, their constant support and human understanding have provided me with the tools necessary to take on the numerous challenges of my research with enthusiasm. I would also like to thank Dr. Jenny Brumme for helping me to solve my many doubts on some theoretical issues during our long conversations, in which a smile and a humorous comment never failed. My special thanks are also for Dr. Luis Pegenaute, Dr. José Francisco Ruiz Casanova, and Dr. Patrick Zabalbeascoa for never hiding when they met me in the corridors of the faculty or never diverting their eyes in despair. Thank you for always being ready to give me recommendations and for patiently listening to my only subject of conversation during the last four years. During the project, I have had the privilege to make two research stays abroad. The first, in 2009, in Leuven, Belgium, at the Center for Translation Studies (CETRA), and the second in 2010 at the Translation Center of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA. I would like to give a heartfelt thank you to my tutors there, Dr. Reine Meylaerts and Dr. Maria Tymoczko respectively, for their tutoring and for offering me the chance to attend classes and seminars during my stay there, converting that period into a fruitful and exciting experience. I would also like to thank Dr. Lieven D’hulst for his comments on the structure of the thesis, Dr. Edwin Gentzler for allowing me to use the infrastructure of the Translation Center, and Dr. William Moebius for inviting me to attend his classes. The stays were possible thanks to the economic support of the Department of Translation and Language Sciences of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Thanks also to the staff of my department (Susi Bolós, Lali Palet, Núria Abad, Nayat Chourak and Ramon Fornell), who were the first to welcome me when, years ago, I landed there fleeing from another world. Thanks to the library staff, to the friends with whom I have shared the office at the university, who helped me solve with patience my linguistic doubts, and to those friends who shared my spare time. Thanks also to my strictest reader, Anna Strowe, who v proofread the whole thesis. I remain accountable for any mistake that can be found in it. Zygmunt Bauman says that destiny sketches the set of options that we have at our disposal. There is always more than one option and our character determines the choice among them. In whatever we do, then, there is an element of determination and an element of freedom. My parents, with their love and their personal example, have made it possible for me to choose to start a doctoral career, which has given me happiness and satisfaction during these years. Words fail me at this point to thank them, and Raffaele and Elena, for their unwavering support. vi Summary This doctoral thesis studies the recreation of spoken language in Robert Frost’s poetry and the translation of Frost’s poetry that has been carried out by Agustí Bartra and Miquel Declot into Catalan, and by Giovanni Giudici into Italian. The study starts by describing the meaning of the term mimesis of orality and its main features. It stresses the complexity of the phenomenon, which can be explained better only if a more eclectic theoretical and methodological approach is adopted that focuses on both the linguistic features of mimesis of orality and their potential effect on readers. Frost’s poetic language is well-known for its spoken quality. In this research I define the main traits of the poet’s language and then study how his evocation of orality has been interpreted by the poet-translators Bartra, Desclot and Giudici and how it has been interwoven with their own poetic style. The translations share common traits that can be traced back to the stylistic patterns of Frost’s original poetry. However, they also present divergent stylistic solutions that can be ascribed to each translator. By contextualizing these personal translation choices a better understanding is achieved of the causes that have motivated them, which ultimately brings the research to explore issues related to the translators’ ideology and cultural commitment. Resum Aquesta tesi doctoral estudia la recreació de la llengua parlada en la poesia de Robert Frost i la traducció de la poesia de Frost duta a terme per Agustí Bartra i Miquel Desclot al català, i per Giovanni Giudici a l’italià. L’estudi descriu el significat del terme mimesi de l’oralitat i les seves principals característiques. Posa l’accent en la complexitat del fenomen, que es pot explicar millor si s’adopta un enfocament teòric i metodològic més eclèctic, que se centra tant en els aspectes lingüístics de la mimesi de l’oralitat com en els possibles efectes en els lectors. El llenguatge poètic de Frost és ben conegut per la seva qualitat parlada. En aquesta recerca defineixo en primer lloc els trets principals de la llengua del poeta i estudio de quina forma la seva evocació de l'oralitat ha estat interpretada pels poetes i traductors Bartra, Desclot i Giudici i de quina manera s'ha entrellaçat amb l’estil poètic propi dels traductors. Les traduccions comparteixen trets comuns que es remunten als patrons estilístics de la poesia original de Frost. No obstant això, també presenten solucions estilístiques divergents que poden ser atribuïdes a cada traductor. Mitjançant la contextualització d’aquestes opcions personals de traducció és possible aconseguir una millor comprensió de les causes que les han motivades. Això porta la investigació a examinar qüestions relacionades amb la ideologia dels traductors i el seu compromís cultural. vii CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ........................................................... 1 Aims ................................................................................................................... 1 Structure of the thesis ....................................................................................... 2 Methodology ..................................................................................................... 7 A note on the stylistic choices of the study ..................................................... 14 1. THEORETICAL FRAMES ..................................... 15 1.1 Stylistics and relevance theory .................................................................. 15 1.2. Translational stylistics ............................................................................... 19 1.3 The perspective of causal explanation ...................................................... 23 1.4 Complementary theoretical tools .............................................................. 27 1.4.1 Frame semantics in translation .......................................................... 27 1.4.2 Narratology ........................................................................................ 28 1.5 Mimesis of orality ...................................................................................... 34 1.5.1 Introducing the concept ..................................................................... 34 1.5.2 Orality ................................................................................................ 37 1.5.3 Studies of orality: the oral-written continuum .................................. 39 1.6 Koch and Oesterreicher’s framework ........................................................ 49 1.6.1 Criticism and advantages ................................................................... 54 1.7 Orality and mimesis of orality .................................................................... 58 1.8 Features of mimesis of orality ................................................................... 67 1.9 Mimesis of orality in translation ................................................................ 71 1.10 Adaptation of the framework: the checklist ............................................ 75 1.10.1 Universal features of orality at a textual-pragmatic level................ 77 1.10.2 Universal features of orality at a syntactical level ........................... 80 1.10.3 Universal features of orality at a lexico-semantic level ................... 82 1.10.4 Universal features of orality at a phonic level ................................. 85 1.10.5 Polyfunctionality of features of orality ............................................ 86 1.10.6 Other features .................................................................................. 87 2. ROBERT FROST’S VOICES IN POETRY .......... 91 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................... 91 2.2 Robert Frost: myths, themes and theories ................................................ 92 2.2.1 The sound of sense ............................................................................ 92 2.2.2 The main themes ............................................................................... 93 2.2.3 The poetic language and the setting ................................................100 ix 2.2.4 Poetic language and colloquial register ...........................................101 2.2.5 The dramatic element ......................................................................105
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