EL RETO DEL DIALECTO: IL PASTICCIACCIO DE GADDA AL ESPAÑOL, AL INGLÉS Y AL CATALÁN

Abstract

Translating dialect always means undertaking a very risky venture, and every solution inevitably entails significant changes, both from linguistic and ideological points of view, which have nothing to do with the original text. This article focuses on three translations of the Italian novel Quer pasticciaccio brutto de via Merulana, by Carlo Emilio Gadda. The original text presents a colourful mixture of linguistic varieties and dialects, each of which represent a particular social and cultural reality. The descriptive and comparative study of Spanish, English and Catalan translations sheds light on three different strategies adopted by the translators. In addition, the comparison leads to a reflection about the factors involved in the process, which may have determined the choice of the translation’s strategy.