"The Grandmother" and "The Sicilian Soldier", analysis and theory-based translation of Elsa Morante's short stories.

Abstract

The main aims of this master thesis are the translation of two short Italian stories, and the study and application of translation theories that are relevant to the work I carry out. The translation is from Italian towards English and involves two short stories from the book “The Andalusian Shawl” by Elsa Morante: “The Grandmother” and “The Sicilian Soldier”. The dissertation has a practical part consisting of the translation work, and a theoretical part, analyzing the author’s style, the relevant translation theories, and some of the issues identified during the work. The thesis is divided into 4 chapters; the first chapter briefly introduces the author; the second chapter focuses on the theoretical work done to approach the translation, talking about literary translation, the author’s style, and insights from other translations of Morante; the third chapter contains the target text; lastly, the fourth chapter is a translation commentary about the choices made during the process.