Bilinguismo di scrittura, autotraduzione e traduzione allografa. Studio di un caso inglese-spagnolo.

Developing previous researches on the self-translation in Spanish of When I was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago (1994a), published with the title Cuando era puertorriqueña (1994b), the paper compares some of the translation strategies adopted by Santiago with the approach used by Nina Torres-Vidal in her Spanish version of Almost a Woman (1999a), entitled Casi una mujer (1999b), the second book of Santiago’s trilogy. Using examples, we show that in the two works there is considerable similarity in the translation choices adopted, classifiable as décentrée according to the theoretical model proposed by Oustinoff (2001). We argue that the varying forms of authorial role possible in a work of translation do not always depend on the author’s degree of bilingualism. A clear demarcation between self-translation and allographic translation does not always exist. In fact, a hybrid ‘border country’ reflecting the influences of both may exist that generates different forms of collaboration between author and translator.