Le varie fasi di revisione del testo applicate alla traduzione della saggistica divulgativa

Abstract

Popularization essays are borderline works which combine scientific accuracy and high literary quality. The first task of an editor is therefore to select a translator who is able to preserve both aspects in the target text. The revision of the translation is then organized in a series of levels or phases: a comparison with the original text, which implies checking the technical terminology and the research actually carried out; a stylistic revision of the target text; a further reading focusing on the clarity and precision of contents; the check of intertextual references (table of contents, headings, footnotes, references within the text, index); a check of the compliance with the editorial guidelines; the correction of typos and the control of the layout, which in these volumes is often elaborate and sometimes includes pictures. These reading levels, although interacting, should be examined individually in a sequence of different phases, a methodology often hampered by the strict schedules required today by the publishing market. This article focuses on the techniques and problems related to each phase.