Translation of a selection of poems from Mario Azzopardi's 'Noti mis-Sanatorju tal-Mistici' from Maltese into English

Abstract

Literary translator Edith Grossman argues that ‘for writers whose first language is limited in terms of how many people speak it, translation is indispensable for achieving an audience of consequential size.’ Maltese is one such example of a language which is limited in terms of how many people speak it. It is mostly spoken and understood only by Maltese, amounting to its population of around 400,000 persons. This means that the readership of a Maltese author writing in his native language cannot exceed 400,000 persons. This is one reason why Maltese authors are very keen on being translated. As critic Marilyn Gaddis Rose wrote ‘what translating does is to help us get inside literature.’ It follows that without translation, readers who cannot read Maltese are unable to get inside Maltese literature. In case of poetry, Robert Frost thought that it is lost in translation. However it could be counter argued that poetry will never be as lost as in a language the reader cannot understand. The urge at presenting Maltese literature to a wider audience has been recently expressed by Immanuel Mifsud in an interview published on 11th May 2012 on the Times of Malta. Mifsud, one of the leading authors of contemporary Maltese literature who was awarded the European Union Prize for Literature in 2011, expressed his view that there is an urgent need for Maltese literature to be translated and exported. According to Mifsud, when Maltese authors become conscious of a significant increase in readership, their perspective and writing will also change. Mifsud concludes that as a result this could also improve the quality of Maltese literature. On the local level, an organisation that promotes literary translation is Inizjamed. Inizjamed is a voluntary non-governmental cultural organization, founded in 1998, committed towards the regeneration of culture and artistic expression in the Maltese Islands with a view to promote a greater awareness of the cultures of the Mediterranean. Amongst its main activities is the publication of Maltese literature both in the original and in translation. On the EU level, the PETRA (European Platform for Literary Translation) project is promoting and supporting literary translation and literary translators in Europe. At the opening of the PETRA congress, held in Brussels in December 2011, Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism, Youth and Sport, claimed that ‘Europe’s great heritage should be enjoyed by the many, not by the few. That is why translators are essential.’ The idea of this investigation took form following the proposition made by the author, Mario Azzopardi, to have one of his own favourite poetry anthologies, Noti mis-Sanatorju tal-Mistiċi, translated into English. Such proposition was embraced in response to the need of making Maltese literature available to a wider audience. Although, as has been stated by many translators, the translation of poetry undoubtedly poses greater difficulties than that of prose, the task is to some extent facilitated when the poems to be translated are written in free verse, as those in Noti mis-Sanatorju tal-Mistiċi. The translator is spared the ‘infernal nuisance’ caused by the tyranny of rhyme and metre which impose a much greater limitation on the choice of words. Furthermore the growing interest in the practice of literary translation and the affinity with Azzopardi’s vision were of inspiration to take up such investigation as a Masters dissertation in Translation Studies. Ultimately, this investigation aims to fulfil two scopes of translation: the primitive scope of translation, ‘the utilitarian one of overcoming ignorance of the language of the original’ and as a means to secure the survival of the text, to give it an ‘afterlife.’