And Then There Were Some… Reflecting on the Use of Adverbs in the Albanian Translation of Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None”

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to reflect on the use of adverbs from a comparative translation perspective. Adverbs may serve many purposes in writing, and arguments can be brought for and against their prolific use, overuse or, at times, even abuse as stylistic devices. We have selected Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” to analyse the use of adverbs from a translation’s perspective. One of the typical features of Christie’s writing is her crisp style, focusing essentially on action and dialogue. Even though there is not much descriptive prose, the use of adverbs is striking, often used to modify reporting verbs of direct speech, shedding more light into the characters, as well as serving as clues or red herrings to the revelation of the identity of the murderer. We are going to refer to the frequency and purpose of usage of adverbs in the original vis-à-vis the Albanian translation. The comparison between the original (1940) and its Albanian translation (2019) also intends to contemplate on shifting viewpoints about the use of adverbs in contemporary writing.