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Translation of dialect and cultural transfer : an analysis of Eduardo De Filippo’s theatre
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De Martino Cappuccio, Alessandra (2010) Translation of dialect and cultural transfer : an analysis of Eduardo De Filippo’s theatre. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.
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Official URL: http://webcat.warwick.ac.uk/record=b2338547~S15
Abstract
The thesis sets out to examine cultural transfer from Neapolitan dialect into English, in the
translations of plays by the contemporary Neapolitan playwright Eduardo De Filippo
(1900-1984). It involves a comparative textual analysis of English translations of a
selection of De Filippo’s plays in order to identify the translation strategies employed by
each translator to represent Neapolitan cultural identity. Eduardo De Filippo can be defined
as one of the most prominent contemporary Italian playwrights who employed dialect to
portray characters who trespassed the boundaries of both Neapolitan and Italian society and
to address social issues which were comprehensible to a vast public. In fact, his innovative
contribution resided in the ability to bring vernacular theatre to national and international
level. Thus the objective of the study is to bring to light the universality of De Filippo’s
message albeit the limited linguistic medium and to show how his theatre is represented in
the Anglo-Saxon milieu. The aim of previous critical studies on the matter has been to
focus on the stage representations of De Filippo’s oeuvres, without particular emphasis on
the analysis of the dialect. Drawing on a variety of theatre as well as translational
frameworks (critical work on translation and in particular on theatre translation, the
polysystem theory, the descriptive approach, anthropology, and sociolinguistics) I argue
that dialect theatre represents an autonomous genre, separate from standard Italian theatre,
which needs to be accounted for in translation, and in particular that the domestication of
the language reduces the cultural impact of the original plays. The thesis is the first study to
suggest that lexicological issues reflect the interpretation of the Neapolitan society in the
translated texts and to provide evidence of the appropriation of Neapolitan culture by the
receiving theatrical system through the linguistic choices made in translation.
Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) | ||||
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Subjects: | P Language and Literature > PQ Romance literatures | ||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | De Filippo, Eduardo, 1900-1984 -- Translations into English -- History and criticism, Italian language -- Dialects -- Naples, Dialect drama, Italian -- Translations into English -- History and criticism, Naples -- Civilization | ||||
Official Date: | February 2010 | ||||
Dates: |
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Institution: | University of Warwick | ||||
Theses Department: | Department of Italian | ||||
Thesis Type: | PhD | ||||
Publication Status: | Unpublished | ||||
Supervisor(s)/Advisor: | Caesar, Ann | ||||
Sponsors: | University of Warwick | ||||
Extent: | vii, 296 leaves : ill. | ||||
Language: | eng |
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