Between English Humour and National Stereotypes – Translating Stephen Clarke’s Novel Merde Happens into Italian
Abstract
This paper discusses translation of texts about nonprofit organizations from English into Italian as a case study of intercultural communication. Firstly, we note the importance of adaptation as a valuable strategy for translation of nonprofit texts from English into Italian. Secondly, we describe the intercultural difference between the nonprofit sector in Italy and the United States in terms of paradigms, following Kuhn’s theory of interparadigmatic translation and Gramsci’s idea of translatability. Thirdly, we show the connection between these epistemological frameworks of translation and interlinguistic translation by selecting a number of keywords in the language of American philanthropy which do not have a direct equivalent in Italian, or whose equivalent may prove to be a "false friend" if translated literally (stewardship, philanthropy, charity): we show that despite the alleged "incommensurability" between Italian and American philanthropy, translation is still possible, and we suggest practical strategies that translators may adopt.
An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Joint ACLA/ AAAL Conference in Montréal (Canada) in June 2006.
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Copyright (c) 2009 Sabrina Fusari
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- Sabrina Fusari, The Discourse of Philanthropy in Italy and The United States: A Case Study of Interparadigmatic Translation. , Journal of Intercultural Communication: Vol. 7 No. 2 (2007)