Dictionary
of translation science
Un episodio sconcertante all’ETI di Ginevra
con Giancarlo Marchesini
My name in a book
“Bruno”,
said Bruno.
“I’ve
never heard of that name,” said Shmuel.
“And
I’ve never heard of your name,” said Bruno. “Shmuel.”
He thought about it. “Shmuel,” he repeated. “I like
the way it sounds when I say it. Shmuel. It sounds
like the wind blowing.”
“Bruno,”
said Shmuel, nodding his head happily. “Yes, I think
I like your name too. It sounds like someone who’s rubbing their arms to keep
warm.”
“I’ve
never met anyone called Shmuel before,” said Bruno.
“There
are dozens of Shmuels on this side of the fence,”
said the little boy. “Hundreds probably. I wish I had a name all of my own”.
!I’ve
never met anyone called Bruno,” said Bruno. “Other than me, of course. I think
I might be the only one.”
“Then
you’re lucky,” said Shmuel.
“I
suppose I am [...]”.
John Boyne, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
My favorite
town: New York
“And
then one day he falls into place, accepts the city and does not fight it
anymore. It is too huge to notice him and suddenly the fact that it doesn’t
notice him becomes the most delightful thing in the world. His
self-consciousness evaporates. If he is dressed superbly well – there are half
a million people dressed equally well. If he is in rags – there are a million
ragged people. If he is tall, it is a city of tall people. If he is short the
streets are full of dwarfs; if ugly, ten perfect horrors pass him in one block;
if beautiful, the competition is overwhelming. If he is talented, talent is a
dime a dozen. If he tries to make an impression by wearing a toga – there’s a
man down the street in a leopard skin. Whatever he does or says or wears or
thinks he is not unique. Once accepted this gives him perfect freedom to be
himself, but unaccepted it horrifies him”.
John Steinbeck, Making of a New Yorker
Activities
Bruno Osimo, Ph.
D., teaches translation theory, translation criticism and translation history,
Russian language, and essay translation from English into Italian at the Dipartimento Lingue della Fondazione Scuole Civiche, Milano, Italy.
On translation considered
from a semiotic point of view – both as a process and as a product – he does
research in cooperation with the Department of Semiotics of the University of Tartu, whose results are
published in papers and books
published in Italy by Hoepli and
demonstrated during lectures. For such research
he is guided by his master and friend Peeter Torop.
He translates from English and Russian into Italian.
What people tell about me
Ludovica Guetta, 10 years old
