DICTIONARY OF THE KHAZARS TRANSLATION OF SECONDARY LANGUAGE VARIETIES FROM SERBIAN LANGUAGE INTO ITALIAN

Abstract

The paper analyses the problems of literary translation in the cases where the original text is characterized by the presence of a linguistic variety, namely the use of multiple dialects and pronunciations of one specific language. In these cases, the problem every translator faces is the question if the original linguistic diversity should be maintained in the translation, and if so, by what means, or should it be neutralized and translated using only the standard dialect or pronunciation. The paper researches this specific translation problem analyzing two different translations of the novel Dictionary of the Khazars by Serbian author Milorad Pavić into Italian. The analysis also cites examples of the English translation of the novel, comparing the choices of the English translator with the Italian ones. The results of the comparative translation analysis show that both the English and the Italian translators do not use code-mixed texts in the translation and therefore neutralize the linguistic diversity of the original text. Milorad Pavić uses the Ijekavian and Ikavian pronunciation for the depiction of specific literary characters whose way of speaking is emphasized and describes the time and territory they are living in, and which differentiates from the standard usage of language, that is the Ekavian pronunciation. The paper offers an alternative translation approach, one that preserves the linguistic variety of the original in translation, and therefore recreates the linguistic richness of Pavić’s literary characters also in a foreign language.