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Abstract
The works of Italian/Friulian author, Tito Maniacco (1932–2010), including Mestri di mont (2007), incorporate a multitude of allusions. One of the problems authors face when using allusions is that, if their reader does not recognize the allusion, meaning can be lost. This problem is exacerbated when a work moves across cultural borders. While Mestri di mont is written in Italian, the Friulian language features prominently, and there is also a smattering of French and Latin. In this article, I discuss my approach to handling these two challenges in bringing this text across into English: the multiple languages and allusions. My aim is to explain why footnotes were my chosen strategy for transmitting additional information to a new readership. In the field of translation, footnotes are controversial. In the case of Mestri di mont, footnotes served to convey information and insights for an improved reading experience.
Notes
1. Vecchiet, “Un rapporto durevole,” 169.
2. Turello, “Maniacco, Tito,” 2047.
3. I commenced translating Mestri di mont in 2018.
4. Irwin, “What Is an Allusion?,” 289.
5. Irwin, “What Is an Allusion?,” 288.
6. Machacek, “Allusion,” 526.
7. Schmid, “Implied Reader,” 301.
8. M. Giovannelli, personal communication, Aug 2019; B. Maniacco, personal communication, Aug 2019.
9. Newmark, A Textbook of Translation, 91.
10. Leppihalme, “Allusions and their Translation,” 183.
11. Bertuzzi and Fait, Un secolo di partenze e di ritorni, 128.
12. Gadda, Quer pasticciaccio brutto.
13. Gadda, That Awful Mess.
14. Fenoglio, Il partigiano Johnny.
15. Fenoglio, Johnny the Partisan.
16. Gadda, That Awful Mess, v.
17. Murakami, “As Translator, as Novelist,” 171.
18. Hadley and Akashi, “Translation and Celebrity,” 465–66.
19. Murakami, “As Translator, as Novelist,” 171.
20. Aixelà, “Culture-specific Items,” 62.
21. Newmark, A Textbook of Translation, 92.
22. Aixelà, “Culture-specific Items,” 62.
23. Sanchez Ortiz, “The Use of Footnotes,” 114.
24. Sanchez Ortiz, “The Use of Footnotes,” 115.
25. Petrulionė, “Translation of Culture-Specific Items,” 44.
26. Bell, “Translation: Walking the Tightrope of Illusion,” 60.
27. Burkle-Young and Maley, The Art of the Footnote, 3.
28. Petraru, “Translator’s Notes,” 133–34.
29. Maniacco, Mestri di mont, 119.
30. Maniacco, Mestri di mont, 10.
31. Maurer-Lausegger, “The Diversity of Languages,” 14.
32. Coluzzi, “Minority Language Planning,” 463–64.
33. Burkle-Young and Maley, The Art of the Footnote, 45.
34. Ginsborg, A History of Contemporary Italy, 206; Iandolo, “Unforgettable 1956? the PCI and the Crisis of Communism in Italy,” 260.
35. Haig, “The Poznań Uprising,” 161.
36. Ginsborg, A History of Contemporary Italy, 207.
37. Ginsborg, A History of Contemporary Italy, 206–09.
38. Maniacco, Mestri di mont, 9–10.
39. Landers, Literary Translation, 93.
40. Newmark, A Textbook of Translation, 92.
41. Murakami, “As Translator, as Novelist,” 171.
42. Maniacco, Mestri di mont, 10.
43. Maniacco, Mestri di mont, 17.
44. Maniacco, Mestri di mont, 18.
45. Weaver, “The Process of Translation.”
46. Maniacco, Figlio del secolo, 104.
47. Sanchez Ortiz, “The Use of Footnotes,” 114.
48. Petraru, “Translator’s Notes,” 133.
49. Sanchez Ortiz, “The Use of Footnotes,” 114.
50. Jiang, “Footnotes: Why and How,” 693.
51. Landers, Literary Translation, 93.
52. Sanchez Ortiz, “The Use of Footnotes,” 125.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Valentina Maniacco
Valentina Maniacco is currently undertaking a Creative Writing PhD at Griffith University, Queensland, Australia. She has previously translated the contemporary short story, American Parmigiano, by Wu Ming, which can be found on Wu Ming’s website: https://wumingfoundation.tumblr.com/post/165611008900/our-short-story-american-parmigiano-2008-is-now. Her most recent publication reflects on that experience:
Maniacco, Valentina. 2018. “American Parmigiano and the Translator’s Visibility.” The AALITRA
Review (13): 46–60.