Università degli Studi di Padova Dipartimento di Studi Linguistici e Letterari Corso di Laurea Magistrale in Lingue e Letterature Europee e Americane Classe LM-37 Tesi di Laurea Translating Chris Colfer's “Struck by Lightning” into Italian: Focus on Taboo Language, Humour, Cultural References and Fixed Expressions Relatore Laureanda Prof. Erik Castello Valeria Viesti n° matr.1086904 / LMLLA Anno Accademico 2015 / 2016 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many people I would like to thank for their incredible support and help – not only with this dissertation, but with many, countless, other things. First and foremost, my family. I would like to thank my mother, a strong, resourceful woman who teaches me something new every day. My late father, who showed me what generosity is and whose memory I will forever keep in my heart. My beloved sister, who is the most patient and selfless person I know. Secondly, I would like to thank all my friends. You are all incredible, wonderful people and I love you very much. In particular, I would like to thank “le solite” for almost twenty years of being each other's anchors and Federica for being the way she is. Last, but far from least, I would like to thank Michele. He knows why. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction......................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1: The author and the novel.............................................................................3 1.1 The author: Christopher Colfer....................................................................................3 1.1.1 His life.............................................................................................................3 1.1.2 His literary and film production......................................................................6 1.2 The novel and the film.................................................................................................7 1.2.1 The beginning..................................................................................................8 1.2.2 The Clovergate project..................................................................................14 1.2.3 The ending.....................................................................................................20 1.2.4 The film.........................................................................................................21 1.3 The main characters...................................................................................................22 1.3.1 The protagonist: Carson Phillips...................................................................22 1.3.2 Carson Phillips' family...................................................................................24 1.3.3 The Chronicle team.......................................................................................26 1.3.4 The student council's members......................................................................28 1.4 Similarities and differences between Chris Colfer and Carson Phillips....................31 1.4.1 Similarities....................................................................................................31 1.4.2 Differences....................................................................................................33 Chapter 2: To translate or not to translate..................................................................35 2.1 The problem of definitions........................................................................................35 2.1.1 Defining translation......................................................................................36 2.1.2 Defining the role of the translator.................................................................40 2.2 The perks of being a translator...................................................................................45 2.2.1 Invisibility......................................................................................................46 2.2.2 Underestimation............................................................................................51 2.2.3 Every rule has an exception..........................................................................55 2.3 Domesticating a text..................................................................................................57 2.3.1 How to define domestication.........................................................................58 2.3.2 Domestication versus foreignization.............................................................60 2.4 A matter of loyalty......................................................................................................62 2.4.1 Equivalence in translation..............................................................................63 2.4.2 Author-related loyalty....................................................................................66 2.4.3 Readership-related loyalty.............................................................................68 2.5 Acceptable translations: dream or reality...................................................................70 2.5.1 How to define acceptability...........................................................................71 2.5.2 A matter of fluency.........................................................................................73 2.5.3 Quality in translation.....................................................................................74 2.5.3.1 Two models: House's and Larose's....................................................77 Chapter 3: Some challenging aspects in translation...................................................83 3.1 Translating taboo language........................................................................................83 3.1.1 Swearwords and where to find them..............................................................84 3.1.2 From source swearwords to target swearwords.............................................87 3.1.3 When insults are at issue................................................................................91 3.2 Translating humour....................................................................................................93 3.2.1 A serious matter.............................................................................................94 3.2.2 Different kinds of humour.............................................................................97 3.2.2.1 Meaningful made-up names..............................................................98 3.2.2.2 Wordplays..........................................................................................99 3.2.2.3 Jokes................................................................................................100 3.2.3 Translation strategies....................................................................................101 3.2.3.1 Strategies to translate meaningful made-up names.........................102 3.2.3.2 Strategies to translate wordplays.....................................................104 3.2.3.3 Strategies to translate jokes.............................................................106 3.3 Translating culture-related matters..........................................................................108 3.3.1 Defining culture...........................................................................................109 3.3.1.1 Culture as an acquired tool versus culture as a learned tool............109 3.3.1.2 Culture as fixed versus culture as changing....................................110 3.3.1.3 Culture as an influence....................................................................111 3.3.1.4 Language and culture......................................................................112 3.3.2 Translating culture.......................................................................................114 3.3.2.1 The first steps..................................................................................116 3.3.2.2 Translation strategies.......................................................................117 3.3.3 Connected matters: culture-related concepts and cohesion.........................120 3.3.3.1 The issue of cohesion......................................................................122 3.4 Translating fixed expressions and idioms................................................................128 3.4.1 Defining idioms and fixed expressions.......................................................129 3.4.1.1 Defining idioms...............................................................................129 3.4.1.2 Defining fixed expressions..............................................................131 3.4.2 Translation strategies....................................................................................133 3.4.2.1 An equivalent is available in the target language............................134 3.4.2.2 An equivalent is not available in the target language......................135 Chapter 4: Translating Struck by Lightning..............................................................137 4.1 Bad language............................................................................................................137 4.1.1 Swearwords..................................................................................................138 4.1.1.1 An equivalent in the target language is given..................................139 4.1.1.2 The source swearword is omitted....................................................143