Minä-pronoun in literary translation: Observations on a Finnish-Italian translation

Abstract

This paper examines the utilization of first-person (singular) subject pronouns in a Finnish literary text and its translation into Italian. A crucial distinction between Finnish and Italian lies in the null subject parameter, but it is noteworthy that first-person pronouns in subject position is expected to be null in both languages when not motivated by discourse function. The study addresses four primary aspects: (i) the occurrence of overt pronouns in the Finnish source text; (ii) their analysis concerning Topic and Focus categories; (iii) the examination of whether, in the Italian translation, the corresponding pronouns are realized as overt or null; and (iv) the assessment of whether the discourse function is retained or compromised. The examination of overt first-person pronouns extends beyond the classification under discourse functional categories, incorporating an analysis of the impact of interference in the translator’s interlanguage.