Translation and colonial landscapes: Ethiopia in A Time to Kill by Ennio Flaiano

Abstract

This paper investigates the (un)translatability of landscape at the time of the fascist invasion of Ethiopia (1935) as narrated in Ennio Flaiano's A Time to Kill which was published soon after the end of the Second World War (1947). It examines the translations into French and English which were issued soon afterwards (1950) and the film adaptation of the novel (1989). It aims to analyse the causes for the limited international recognition the work received, notwithstanding the stature of the author as both a screenwriter (i.e., Fellini's La Dolce Vita) and playwright. The thematic frame is that of the resistance of a timeless space against colonial penetration. The protagonist's perception of the landscape is punctuated by disorientation, distorted vision and erroneous topography. Cultural remoteness and linguistic distance are enacted on different levels: the intratextual level in the narration; the interlinguistic level in the translation proper; the intersemiotic transposition on the screen; and the subsequent dubbing and subtitling. Likewise, the indefiniteness of spatial perception and shifting viewpoints in the novel weave through metaphors, self-questioning by the narrator, challenging translation and film adaptation. The voice-over effect is not activated, thus diluting climax, as the story is a first-person narrative. Moreover, due to the Derg regime, the film could not be shot in Ethiopia, which ruled out any recognition of the geographic, religious and cultural identity of the country.