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Article In: Translation and Translanguaging in Multilingual Contexts: Online-First Articles

Bilingual reading in self-translation

One plus one equals three

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Abstract
This article explores bilingual reading of self-translated literature as a distinct type of reading experience. For bilingual readers, the awareness that both versions of the text are authored by the same writer in different languages activates a mode of reading that differs not only from monolingual reading but also from bilingual reading of allographic translations. Taking as its point of departure Elvira Dones’s Albanian novel Ditë e bardhë e fyer [Offended White Day] . 2001a. Ditë e bardhë e fyer. Milano: Feltrinelli.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar and its self-translation into Italian, Bianco giorno offeso [Offended White Day] . 2004a. Bianco giorno offeso. Novara: Interlinea Edizioni.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, the article examines how the transition from the first version to the self-translated second one produces substantial cumulative narrative differences that shape the bilingual reading experience, resulting in a third interpretive dimension.
Abstract (Italiano)
Questo articolo esplora la lettura bilingue della letteratura autotradotta come un tipo di esperienza di lettura distinto. Per i lettori bilingui, la consapevolezza che entrambe le versioni del testo siano state scritte dallo stesso autore in lingue diverse attiva una modalità di lettura che si differenzia non solo dalla lettura monolingue, ma anche da quella bilingue di traduzioni allografiche. Partendo dal romanzo in albanese di Elvira Dones, Ditë e bardhë e fyer [Bianco giorno offeso] . 2001a. Ditë e bardhë e fyer. Milano: Feltrinelli.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar e dalla sua autotraduzione in italiano, Bianco giorno offeso . 2004a. Bianco giorno offeso. Novara: Interlinea Edizioni.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, l’articolo analizza come il passaggio dalla prima versione alla seconda autotradotta generi differenze narrative sostanziali e cumulative che plasmano l’esperienza di lettura bilingue, dando origine a una terza dimensione interpretativa.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Monolingual and bilingual reading in translation
  • 3.Bilingual reading in self-translation
    • 3.1Omitting the prompter
    • 3.2Changing the perspective — from emigrant to immigrant
    • 3.3Altering the narrative voice
  • 4.Discussion
  • 5.Conclusion
  • References
References (30)
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