DE STASIO, L. (Universidad del País Vasco): DISCUSSION ON THE TRANSLATION OF 'QUESTI FANTASMI', BY E. DI FILIPPO: 'CON DERECHO A FANTASMA', SPANISH VERSION BY JAIME DE ARMIÑÁN AND STAGING BY FERNANDO FERNÁN GÓMEZ

Abstract

We have analyzed the Spanish translation of the pièce by Eduardo De Filippo’s Questi fantasmi (These ghosts, 1945), carried out by Jaime de Armiñán in 1959, and specifically required for the stage under the direction of Fernando Fernán Gómez, which was presented with the title Derecho a fantasma. Since the very title, not literally translated into Spanish, Jaime de Armiñan’s text wants to merge the unknown, the magical, the surreal, the mystery of the pièce, with the idea of a typically familiar boarding house ​ —which was quite common at that time in Spain—. We found out that while the original text was ironically more subtle and poetic —serving as a universal metaphor for the crisis of values in the second half of the twentieth century— the translation lightly alters the aim of the Italian comedy emphasizing the humour, sometimes senselessly, and making a large use of the digressions and compensations techniques.

Moreover, the relationship described and analyzed in this translation is between the work by Eduardo De Filippo, Jaime Armiñán’s translation and the drammatic thought of Fernando Fernán Gomez, with their respective poetry that derive from their worldviews, theatre ideas, and time. Even though the translation proves to be considerably affected by the fact of being designed for the adaptation for the stage, the two Spanish authors have had the merit of introducing Eduardo De Filippo’s theatre in Spain, a task which had eventually impacted on their activities.