Translating selected excerpts from Cesare Beccaria's Dei Delitti e Delle Pene into Maltese : challenges and strategies

Abstract

The highly specialised nature of philosophical language makes philosophical translation one of the most challenging forms of translation. Despite philosophy’s dependence on translation for its development and dissemination, little systematic literature offers sustained attention or guidance on the challenges and strategies involved in the translation of philosophical texts, a limitation that is further exacerbated in lesser-translated languages such as Maltese. It is within this research gap that the present dissertation situates itself. The study pursues a twofold aim: first, to provide a Maltese translation of strategically selected excerpts from Cesare Beccaria’s Dei Delitti e Delle Pene (1764); and second, to compile, apply, and critically evaluate strategies for addressing the distinctive challenges of translating eighteenth-century, Enlightenment juridico-philosophical prose through their systematic testing in the translation of Beccaria’s text. The central research question examines whether, and to what extent, the challenges and strategies identified in the literature are confirmed, nuanced, or problematised when applied to the Maltese translation of Dei Delitti e Delle Pene. This enquiry was operationalised through focused analysis of recurrent difficulties documented during the translation process. The findings demonstrate that rigorous pre-translational diagnosis, and iterative rereading are functionally indispensable to philosophical translation. At the syntactic and stylistic levels, the analysis confirms the importance of preserving argumentative structuration and rhetorical features, while demonstrating that carefully calibrated adjustments are sometimes required to maintain intelligibility in Maltese. The study concludes that the compiled strategies are largely confirmed in practice, though their effectiveness remains contingent upon disciplined, context responsive judgment.