The Languages of Italy by Giacomo Devoto (review)

THE LANGUAGES OF ITALY BY GIACOMO DEVOTO, TRANSLATED BY V. LOUISE KATAINEN (Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1978. 357 pages hardbound.) The first feeling a linguist experiences in holding this text is one ofexhilaration since a monumental task has finally been performed in this field. The initial positive reaction is further corroborated by Katainen's superb and masterful control of both languages. From the very title itself we are assured of this translator's exceptional ability to render the original Italian version into the English language. And so, she translates // linguaggio d Italia to The languages ofItaly. This seemingly puzzling rendition ofthe plural from a singular expression at first baffles us but, as we continue our investigation, we come to agree with Katainen that this is undoubtedly the best possible rendition and that expressions such as "languages," "tongues," or "styles" simply would not have been appropriate. A positive factor is Katainen's masterful ability to render complex Italian sentences into their equivalent English constructions. Even when the final version seems to be unacceptable at first, a closer examination will reveal the positiveness of her changes to express the original version. (Examples of this are to be found, for instance, on pp. 26 and 319.) Finally, even though we encounter an occasional misspelling (i.e., pp. 13, 14, 22, 319, etc.), or unacceptable renditions or oversights (i.e., pp. xvi, 10,36, 326 no. 15, 343 no. 10, etc.), nevertheless, none of the above detracted from our acceptance and praise of Katainen's excellent translation. ERASMO G. GERATO* * ERASMO G. GERATO is an Associate Professor of French, Italian and Humanities at The Florida State University. He has published a book on the Italian Romantic poet Alessandro Poerio (Parma: Maccari, 1975), and several articles in various journals in the U. S. as well as Europe, including articles on Leopardi, Della Valle and Stendhal. VOL 34. NO 1 (WINTER 198 ...