Joel Washburn and Professor Cinzia Noble, Italian

The main theme and plot in Cavalleria Rusticana, Jeli, La Lupa, and Rosso Malpelo can both be identified in the English translations that were analyzed; however, the cultural and religious aspects, together with the nuances in meaning seem to have all been affected in at least some way depending on the accuracy of the translation. Due to the lack of space in presenting my findings, I am writing about one of Verga’s stories—Cavalleria Rusticana.

Cavalleria Rusticana

The first English translation analyzed was Cecchetti’s translation of Cavalleria Rusticana. It was very informative for him to include footnotes on the Sicilian soldier’s uniform so that native English speakers can better understand the culture and the historical context of the story. A major problem in this translation was the lack of translating at least one important idiom that referred to an action in the story and also was related to a certain theme in the story. This problem occurs when Santa and Turiddu are speaking, Santa makes a statement referring to their talking that also refers to bundling vine shoots. This idiom is important because of this reference to the work Santa is doing, and also because it has to do with grapes, a major symbol in the story. There was also a problem here with the lack of consistency in offering footnotes to explain important idiomatic phrases. Some, like the one above, were just changed and not even kept in, and some are literally translated without further explanation. One last problem with idioms is the translation of unique culturally important idioms into “run-of-the-mill” cliché phrases in English. Other problems include the mistranslation of certain words and phrases. For example, the phrase “Lola’s not worthy to carry your shoes” is translated to “She doesn’t deserve to carry your shoes” This translation is somewhat awkward and makes readers wonder how anyone deserves to carry shoes in the first place. Also, “blessed” is translated into “lucky,” and “utter” is translated into “gasp.” Although these last examples affect what seem to be only nuances in meaning, they are integral in understanding what the characters are doing and saying, the writing of Verga, the world he is writing about, and the themes and sub themes in the story.

D. H. Lawrence’s translation of the same story also had some problems. This was to be expected since his book is the earliest of the three English translations analyzed. Once again, idioms were not handled very well. Lawrence translates some introductory words in a sentence word for word, which makes understanding difficult. For example, “But for all that […]” doesn’t really make sense in English. Other literal translations of Italian grammar are just as awkward. For example, “he’d rip his guts out for him” sounds off-key. This problem is consistent in the translation and makes understanding somewhat difficult. Other problems with idioms include their literal translation without a footnote to explain it for the reader, or lack of footnotes to explain culturally significant symbols (i.e., black grapes in dreams). Also, there is a disruption of the major theme involving justice when Alfio’s words, “I’m about to give you the good measure” is translated, “I’m going to give you more than you asked for” One particular literary element, repetition, was taken out when Lawrence changed “she’s not worthy” to “she’s not fit […]”

The last translator looked at was G. H. McWilliam. His version of Cavalleria Rusticana has the most words. His map in the back of the book and his list of Sicilian terms in the front of the book are helpful in understanding where the events in the story take place. However, it was apparent that McWilliam decided to include the Italian title “Gnà” in the story, but he omitted the Italian title “Compare” This inconsistency is difficult to understand. Also, many times McWilliam seems to change exclamatory phrases or curses in such a way that tends to make them more extreme and even more offensive. For example, “Saint Devil!” is translated to “Christ in Heaven!” For some readers, this change in translation could alter their idea of what kind of writer Verga is to them. Many idiomatic phrases here are changed completely, including the cultural and religious idioms. For example, Lola’s dream of the black grape is changed to just “a terrible dream.” Also, Santa’s comment of not being afraid of Turiddu’s god is not mentioned at all in this translation. The essence of the story changes without these cultural and religious undertones. In terms of literary elements, the repetition involving Lola’s worthiness is also taken out in this translation as in the one mentioned before, and Santa’s allusion of wanting to send Lola to hell is also taken out completely. Like Lawrence, sometimes the literal translation of Italian grammar makes certain phrases difficult. For example, “I haven’t seen anything of you” may seem very awkward to many native English speakers. This translation also mentions horns. McWilliam changed the phrase “Your wife adorns the home when you are away” to “While you are away your wife dresses up your home with a pair of horns.” This phrase would make no sense at all to native English speakers who are unfamiliar with the significance of horns in Italian culture, unless there was a footnote.

Software Analysis of English Translations of Cavalleria Rusticana

Analyzing Cavalleria Rusticana using special textual analysis software allowed some interesting information to be found. For example, when comparing all of the translations of the story to the original in Italian, Verga had the greatest number of unique words (he had the largest vocabulary). He uses 756 different words to tell the story, while Cecchetti uses 682, McWilliams 728, and Lawrence 685. Although the difference in grammar may be a major contibutor to this interesting statistic (i.e., different suffixes for single verbs; attached pronouns, articles or prepositions), Cecchetti had the smallest vocabulary. This may be due to the abundance of commonly used phrases and clichés in his writing. Also, as mentioned before, McWilliam’s translation had the largest vocabulary out of all the English translations. Top-mentioned words in the story include Turiddu (approx. 28 times), Lola (appr. 16), Alfio (appr. 14), Eyes (appr. 12), Mother (appr. 12), going (appr. 11). Cecchetti does away with Nunzia’s title in the story, so “mother” is only mentioned in his translation about 6 times. This has a negative impact on the cultural aspect of the novel as well as on the literary element of repetition.

Recommendations

I would recommend preserving the idioms (changing the grammar when necessary), and providing footnotes for the reader with an explanation as well as an English idiom that carries approximately the same meaning as the Italian one. Also, including a map of the locations in Sicily and explanations of Sicilian terms and titles (as seen in McWilliam’s version) would be very helpful to the reader. Keeping the Italian titles is a good idea as well since it preserves the cultural context for the reader.