Supervisors info:
Domenica Minniti Γκώνια, Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Ιταλικής Γλώσσας και Φιλολογίας της Φιλοσοφικής Σχολής του Εθνικού και Καποδιστριακού Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών
Γεράσιμος Ζώρας, Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Ιταλικής Γλώσσας και Φιλολογίας της Φιλοσοφικής Σχολής του Εθνικού και Καποδιστριακού Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών
Γιαννούλα Γιαννουλοπούλου, Καθηγήτρια,Τμήμα Ιταλικής Γλώσσας και Φιλολογίας της Φιλοσοφικής Σχολής του Εθνικού και Καποδιστριακού Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών
Summary:
RIASSUNTO
Oggetto del presente lavoro è la disamina linguistica e traduttologica delle Stagioni di Giovanni Meli, poeta siciliano considerato il “secondo Teocrito”. Il nostro interesse per questo rappresentante della poesia dialettale consiste essenzialmente nel fatto che i suoi componimenti furono fatti oggetto di traduzione da parte del poeta italogreco Andreas Kalvos (Zante 1792 – Louth 1869). Scopo del nostro lavoro è di presentare tale traduzione che, sebbene sia stata fatta oggetto di studio dai neogrecisti (Vitti 1960, Caracausi 2016), è pur sempre poco nota al pubblico degli studiosi non specialisti; inoltre, si è voluto riportare l’attenzione sul bilinguismo di Kalvos come rappresentante privilegiato della tradizione eptanesiaca, anche attraverso questo suo lavoro di traduzione: le traduzioni kalviane del Meli sono infatti da considerare un evento eccezionale, emblematico delle conoscenze linguistiche e del bilinguismo all’interno del quale il poeta italogreco si muoveva. Alla personalità di Kalvos, formatasi fra la cultura greca e quella italiana, è dedicato quindi un esteso paragrafo del I capitolo, dove vengono fornite due schede con i dati essenziali della biografia dei due “protagonisti” di questa tesi.
Ai fini di una ottimale comprensione dell’ambito dialettale nel quale si colloca l’ “impresa” di Kalvos, nel II capitolo della tesi si dà una breve introduzione alle varietà diatopiche dell’italiano (dialetti) e un più esteso riferimento al dialetto siciliano attraverso i secoli, dai primordi della tradizione linguistica e letteraria nel Duecento (Scuola Siciliana) fino all’epoca del Meli.
Nel capitolo ΙΙΙ vengono esaminate le opere dialettali del Meli e viene analizzato il suo particolare linguaggio poetico, a base siciliana e tutto intriso di toscanismi. Successivamente, la tesi illustra gli avvenimenti che spinsero Kalvos ad occuparsi della produzione siciliana di Giovanni Meli, sottolinenando la sua eccellente formazione linguistica italiana e dialettale. Si analizzano quindi i principali fenomeni dialettali presenti nei componimenti del poeta siciliano e vengono discusse le scelte operate da Kalvos nella traduzione dell’opera Le Stagioni attraverso un esame contrastivo dei testi in entrambi i codici linguistici (siciliano / italiano). Vengono rilevati fenomeni fonologici, morfosintattici e lessicali e si registrano altresì le soluzioni metriche adottate da Kalvos nella resa del testo dialettale in italiano.
Al di là di ogni pretesa di esaustività, la tesi vuole essere un primo tentativo di approcciarsi all’argomento, con l’unica pretesa di nutrire una grande ammirazione per questo poeta italogreco, espressione emblematica delle relazioni linguistiche e letterarie italogreche.
ABSTRACT
Subject of this work is the study of the translation of Sicilian 18th century poet Giovanni Meli’s Stagioni by the Hellenic-Italian poet Andreas Kalvos (Zakynthos 1792 – Louth 1869). Meli, who was considered a “second Theocritus” by his contemporaries due to the major theocritian impact on his work, gave classicist poets, such as Ugo Foscolo and Andreas Kalvos, the opportunity to translate his masterpiece. However, his work was also interpreted by performers, such as the musicians A. M. Lamberti and M. P. Bevilaqua, who made Meli’s work known to the general public.
The objective of this thesis is the addition of this translation to the Greek studies. Even though this had been the subject of research by distinguished neo-hellenists (Vitti 1960, Caracausi 2016), it is barely known to non-experts. We also want to focus on the bilingualism of Kalvos as a privileged representative of the Ionian/Heptanesian tradition, through this translational attempt of his. Kalvos’ translations of Meli are indeed considered to be exceptional, a true example of the linguistic skills and bilingualism of the Zakynthian poet.
The thesis is divided into four chapters and it consists of two parts: in the first part, which has a generic and descriptive character, we present both the Sicilian poet’s writing production and the dialect he used, along with Kalvos’ personality and his molding into a Hellenic-Italian poet, an expert on the language and the Italian literature of his time. The second part of the thesis has a specific nature and focuses on the detailed and thorough examination, as much as possible, of the translation of Meli’s Stagioni by Kalvos. We examine the complete poetic choices of the poet through the analysis of the most obvious phonetic, morphosyntactic and lexical phenomena.
Additionally, there is an extended paragraph in the I chapter, dedicated to Kalvos’ personality, which was shaped by the Greek and Italian cultures. Apart from that, two introductory references are included regarding the highlights of the two main poets’ biographies.
With the purpose of better understanding the linguistic idiomatic framework in which Kalvos’ translational attempt is placed, a concise introduction of the local varieties of the Italian language (dialects) is given in the II chapter of the thesis while taking into consideration the difficulty of defining the term dialect he might have had due to his perspective as a Greek reader. At the same time, there are more extensive references to the Sicilian dialect, which is examined in broad terms throughout the ages, starting from the beginning of the linguistic and literary tradition in the 13th century (Sicilian School) - during which Meli’s poetry intervenes in an exquisite way - until his time- when such a tradition has already acquired, as it is natural, a character that is mostly “dialectical”.
In the III chapter, Meli’s dialectical works are examined and the particular poetic language is analyzed, based on a Sicilian dialect full of Tuscanisms. Subsequently, there is reference to the incidents that made Kalvos involve himself with the Sicilian production/writing of Giovanni Meli, underlining his excellent Italian linguistic and dialectical skills. Furthermore, the main works of the Sicilian poet are analyzed and Kalvos’ choices on the translation of the Stagioni are discussed, through a comparative examination of the texts in both linguistic codes (Sicilian/Italian). The phonetic, morphosyntactic and lexical phenomena are listed, and the metrical solutions adopted by Kalvos for the rendering of the dialectical work in the Italian language are noted. The study of similarities is concluded, as much as possible, according to the appropriate criteria of the methodology of the translation, for example, by placing the text in a comparative state. However, such an approach is not always feasible, due to the variety of the elements in the two texts that the reader’s attention is focused on.
In the IV chapter there are brief references about Giovanni Meli’s personality and his poetic choices which gave him the opportunity to elevate Sicilian dialect to a literature language, along with Kalvos’ personality, which was formed via the Italian and Greek culture. As follows, there is a presentation of the particular features of the Sicilian dialect and afterwards everything mentioned above is being compared with the linguistic choices that Kalvos had adopted and thus gave an excellent translation of the Stagioni.
Beyond any ambition of completeness the master’s thesis is a first attempt to approach the subject by the researcher with the sole claim of great admiration for this Modern-Greek poet, the emblematic representative of italian greek linguistic and literary relations.
Keywords:
Dialetto, italiano standard, lingua popolare, toscanismo, registro, latineggiante, neologismo, lingua di partenza, lingua d’arrivo, originale (trad.), traduzione libera, semplificazione (trad.), corrispondenza (trad.), metafonia (fon.), sostituzione (fon.), geminazione (fon.), betacismo (fon.), reduplicazione (sint.), infinito, sostantivo (sint.), etimologia, derivazione (less.),Dialect, popular language, tuscanisms, registration, lattinistic, neologisms, target language, source language, original, free translation, betacism, simplification, correspondence (trad.), metaphony (fon.), substitution (fon.), germination (fon.), betacism (fon.), reduplication, infinitive, substantive (sint.), etimology, derivation (less.).
