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translationtheory,andtherearenowseveralseriousscholarsinItalian
universitiesanalysingvariousaspectsoftranslation,butnoparticularlyoriginal
figurehasyetemerged.
Itisinterestingtolookatthequantitativetrendsintheoutputofpublished
translationsinItalyinrelativelyrecentyears.In1982,outofatotal20,560
bookspublishedinItaly22.5percentweretranslations.In1991,the
percentageincreasedto26.1percentofavolumeofbooksthatistwiceas
large(40,142).In1972,45.9percentoftranslatedpageswerefromEnglish,
23.4percentfromFrenchand13.7percentfromGerman.Seventeenyears
later,in1989,thepercentageofpagestranslatedfromEnglishhadreached
54.4percent,whereasFrenchdroppedto17.6percentandGermanremained
stableat13.4percent.Inthesameyear,pagestranslatedfromSpanish
amountedto2.7percent,fromSlavoniclanguages2.3percent,fromClassical
languages(LatinandancientGreek)3.7percent,andfromallotherlanguages
4.3percent.
Byandlarge,mostpublishedtranslationsareofliterature(43.9percentof
translatedpagesin1972;44.8percentin1989),followedbyHistory(12.2per
centin1972,butonly8.5percentin1989);PhilosophyandPsychology(9.5
percentin1972and8.4percentin1989);Religion(stableat5.9percent);
PoliticalScienceandEconomicspeakedto5.6percentin1972butby1989
werereducedto2.5percent;theshareofMedicine,bycontrast,rosefroma
mere2.1percentto6.3percent.
Thedubbingindustry
InItaly,almostallforeignfilmsaredubbed.Historicallythishastwo
concomitantcauses:beforeWorldWarII,itwasfeltthattheuseofsubtitling
wouldcutoffaratherlargesectionofpopularaudienceasilliteracyrateswere
stillfairlyhigh.Moreover,thefascistregimewasafraidof‘contaminating’the
purityofthenationalidiombyexposingaudiencestomassivedosesofforeign
languages.Attheendofthewar,thesecondmotivationallbutdisappeared,but
thefirstwasretainedessentiallybecauseHollywoodexecutivesdidnotwant
obstaclestothenewmarketthatwasopeningafterMussolini’sisolationism.
Theirpowerfullobbyevenmanagedtohaveaclauseaddedtothepeacetreaty
signedwiththeAlliesin1943–5makingdubbingexplicitlymandatory.
Thissituationhasledtothedevelopmentofastrongandwellorganized
dubbingindustry,withspecializedtranslators,adaptersandactors.Themassive
useofAmericantelefilmsintheburgeoningtelevisionindustryhasresultedin
lowerstandards,especiallyatthetranslationendoftheprocess;adaptersand
actorsbarelymanagetosurvivethelossofnuancesandthesenseofunease
givensometimesbyanasynchronousorfaultydubbing,butexcessive
simplificationsandrealhowlersoftennoticeablymarthequalityofthetranslated
dialogue.Thereisagrowingsectionofdedicatedfilmgoersthatwouldprefer
enjoyingforeignfilmsintheoriginalform,withthehelpofsubtitles,butthe
marketsituationseemstoindicatethataradicalchangeinthisfieldisrather
unlikely,atleastinthenearfuture.
Theprofessionalstatusofthetranslator
WheneverItaliantranslatorsmeet,thecomplaintabouttheirprofessionallifeis
virtuallyunanimous.Andtheydonotrefertoexceptionalvocationalhazardslike
theonesufferedbyEttoreCapriolo,thetranslatorofSalmanRushdie’sSatanic
Verses,wholuckilysurvivedstabbing.Theyrefertothelowesteeminwhich
theirworkisheld,tothelowearningsityields,totheshorttimetheyare
allowedtocompleteprojects,totheinsecurityofasteadyflowofjobs,tothe
lackofcontroltheyhaveoverthefinishedproduct.Eventhoughworking
conditionshavegenerallyimprovedsincethelatetwentiethcentury,thebasic
problemofaveryunbalancedrelationshipbetweentranslatorsandpublishers
stillexists.
Themajorfactorsappingthetranslators’bargainingpowerisofcoursethe
existenceofanimmensereservepoolofwouldbetranslatorsfromwhichthe
publisherscandrawthenextcandidateforajob–shouldonerefusetheir
conditions,regardlessofexperienceandtechnicalorliteraryspecialization.
Thereisnoneedtoemphasizethatthemainvictimofthissystem,besidesthe
professionaltranslator,istheoverallqualityofmostwork,assignedasitison
thesheerbasisofsavingcost.
Fordecadesnow,themaintranslators’