Reckoning with Balkan Languages

by Damiano Latella

The article examines the works of fiction translated into Italian from Slovenian, Albanian and Bulgarian after 1989, in order to determine whether indirect translations, or «translations of translations», are still common. These three languages were especially chosen because, as they are not widespread outside their country, they often lack experienced editorial translators. Some authors were mostly translated into Italian from a third language (Ismail Kadare, among others, whose writings were translated from French). More often, though, small publishing houses decide to translate the ultimate source text and resort to translators who are not Italian native speakers.