Journal of Italian Translation

Book Reviews 295
rather than providing a sterile version in which the original language is
assimilated into the language of the translation, thereby disappearing completely.
This is no easy feat with The Almond Picker, because McEwen must
actually acknowledge the linguistic variation between Italian and the Sicilian
dialect spoken by many characters in the novel, including Mennulara
herself. This task was made somewhat easier for him by the author, who
chose not to include too much Sicilian dialogue. The use of Sicilian is referred
to more often than it is actually included, but the differences between
the two languages are very important from a sociolinguistic standpoint
– Italian is the refined language of the upper class in Sicily at the
time, whereas Sicilian is the rough speech of the uneducated and the illiterate,
like Mennulara. An interesting example of this distinction appears
on page 200 of the translation:
“’You’re right: it’s not easy to explain her. There’s no
doubt that she was remarkably intelligent and she had even
acquired a degree of learning: a complex woman. At home we
used to laugh at her secrecy. My father, who in the carabinieri,
would say that if she had been born a man she would have
become a mafia boss; he said she was a fimmina di panza, a woman
who could keep her mouth shut.’
Gerlando Mancuso spoke the gentle Italian of the
mainland, with a French r, but he pronounced the Sicilian
expression perfectly. Gian Maria pointed this out tactfully.
‘Unfortunately, we were born and brought up in the north. I
have never been in Sicily, but we kept up the dialect to
communicate with Aunt Rosalia, who stubbornly refused to
speak Italian. I think she was ashamed of her lack of education
and her limited knowledge of etiquette.’ Again Mancuso feared
that he had spoken out of turn, giving the impression that a
Sicilian accent was unusual, and turning to Lilla he added, ‘If I
may say so, signora Bolla, your Sicilian accent shows through
delightfully in your perfect Italian.’”
COLCLOUGH SANDERS
Kean University
Lucio Mariani. Echoes of Memory: Selected Poems of Lucio Mariani. Bilingual
Edition. Translated by Anthony Molino. Middletown (CT):
Wesleyan University Press, 2003. Pp. 118.
Echoes of Memory includes an introductory translator’s note, as well
as an afterword by Thomas Harrison. The text offers the reader the original
Italian with a facing English translation. When possible, I find, it is
always best to include the original language, along with the target lan-