Traduzione di un brivido: analisi della traduzione editoriale in inglese del romanzo “Jiemi” di Mai Jia e della percezione del romanzo poliziesco da Cina a Occidente

Abstract

The following thesis analyzes the main characteristics of detective and crime novels against the background of noir literature. The key point of the study will be the way in which some of those elements (such as the sensations of suspense and thrill) are expressed in the Chinese language. I will later focus on the Italian translation of Mai Jia’s detective novel Il fatale talento del signor Rong ( Chinese title: jiěmì解密) by Fabio Zucchella, in attempt to understand what problems did the translator incurred into during the process of translation, and how their decisions at the level of style and narration rhythm are motivated. The work will be divided in two sections: In the first section I provide a brief introduction to the historical path of noir literature and outline its characteristics in matter of contents, story and plot. An account of the devices that determine thrill and the suspense, as well as the ways in which such devices work to create an efficient thriller novel will be provided. I will then provide an account of the literary genre in China, describing its historical path from the dawn of this genre in premodern China to its contemporary forms and writing styles, and eventually compare the characteristics of the genre in two different cultures and languages. The second section will focus on one of the most famous contemporary Chinese spy story writers, Mai Jia, and one of its bestsellers: Decoded. After a brief introduction to the author’s life path, study and work experiences, I will introduce the novel and its many features as well. The key point of this section will be a comparative analysis of the translation carried out by Fabio Zucchella, as well as bring the translators’ degrees of efficiency in conveying the sensation of suspense from the Chinese language to Italian and how did he succeeded to bring the novel’s Chinese cultural elements across his translation