La variazione linguistica nel testo letterario – una sfida per la traduzione

Literary texts provide interesting insights into different types of linguistic variation. Variational elements often occur in dialogue sequences or reproduction of speech and contribute significantly to the description of scenarios and characters. This paper focuses on challenges for translation related to linguistic variation in literature with special attention to how translators face diatopic variation. The study is based on the analysis of examples from Thomas Mann’s novel Buddenbrooks: Verfall einer Familie. By comparing four Italian editions, different approaches of translators related to the use of variation will be discussed, also in the light of the notion of translational creativity.