Ferdydurke di Witold Gombrowicz: alcune riflessioni sulla traduzione dei nomi propri

Abstract

Ferdydurke by Witold Gombrowicz: reflections on the translation of proper names. The aim of the paper is to analyse selected proper names in Italian translations of the first novel written by Witold Gombrowicz (1904-1969), a Polish writer, entitled Ferdydurke: (1) translated by S. Miniussi in 1961 from a French version of the novel, and (2) by V. Verdiani in 1991 from the original Polish. The attempt at interpretation involves anthroponyms referring to the characters in the novel; these have been divided into two groups depending on the translation strategy employed: translation or foreignization. The translated names in both versions comprise only five lexical items: the name of the main character – J.zio (Momo /Gingio), the surname of the middle-class family – Młodziak (Giovincelli / Giovanotti), the nickname of professor Bladaczka (Stecchino / Pallore), the nickname of one of the students – Syfon (Sifone) and the dog’s name, marked with dialectal features – Burecek (Bubi / Medoro). Among the translated anthroponyms, the diminutives of the characters’ names, which are characteristic of the original version, are particularly interesting. As for untranslated names, there are both original names without any changes and names that have been adjusted to Italian phonetic norms with the elimination of the Polish diacritics.