Italian: A “Hot” Language for Business Translation
A Full House for Chiara Marchelli’s In-class Talk on Translation
Posted in: Inserra, Italian News and Events
On Thur. Oct. 27 (1-2:15pm) in Schmitt Hall 119, Italian writer and translator Chiara Marchelli gave an in-class talk offered in connection with ITAL345 “Italian Translation for Tourism and Cultural Promotion” taught by Dr. Marisa Trubiano (Schmitt Hall 119).
The second of a series of in-class talks linked to translation, Marchelli’s presentation focused on how to translate for the communication business, understand and decode the specific language required by each client and transpose the intention, mission, and identity of a campaign or an agency into another language, culture and sensibility.
“I decided to invite Chiara Marchelli because her multi-pronged professional path is eye-opening for our students” declared Dr. Teresa Fiore, Inserra Chair. “A teacher of translation and language, a fiction writer, and a copywriter/translator for ad agencies, Chiara Marchelli reminds us of the manifold applications of wordsmithing across languages and cultures. Her presentation clearly showed how a humanities background is key even for business translation: ad slogans are like lines of poetry and press releases an exercise of style close to classical rhetoric. Yet, knowledge of marketing campaigns on social media and of product features is equally essential. Business, humanities, and technology blend in the translator’s profession, which seems to be only bound to grow, especially in Italian.”
“Italian is a “hot” language for business translation,” explained Marchelli to a full house. “I believe that studying and being trained as translators today is a central and promising direction the university system should take. In my own experience, Italian is a language that is essential especially in the fields where Italy remains an excellence, such as, but not only, fashion and design. Translation to and from Italian and English is in high demand, because Italy is still a monolingual country that needs good, skilled and certified translators to communicate outside its boundaries. It may be a niche because of the country’s dimensions, but in a globalized world no one can be generic any longer: in the niche there is plenty, and that is where – I believe – the world is moving. Italy is and will remain unrivaled in the business fields where it has always been a leader, and Italian, as a consequence, will always be required, at all levels of design, production and communication.”
Students responded positively to the inputs Marchelli brought to the table for them: “As a former student, I was pleased to still have the chance to come in and continue learning about the various worlds of translation” said Marta Russoniello. “Dr. Marchelli gave a wonderful and engaging talk on translation “business style” and I hope to one day work on exciting and important projects such as the ones she mentioned.”
“I really enjoyed talking to Chiara and listening to her refreshing talk,” stated Laurence Jay-Rayon Ibrahim Aibo, director of the Center for Translation and Interpreting. “I think the students were unanimously inspired by the examples she shared with them, especially the ones pertaining to translating advertising materials and slogans. She astutely and very convincingly highlighted the breadth of cultural knowledge that is required to translate everyday business materials. I do hope that it will keep students thinking about Italian translation.”
“Italian businesses want to gain access to the U.S. market,” added Trubiano. “The state of New Jersey represents one of Italy’s most important business partners. Our students and community know all this and came out in high numbers for Chiara’s talk. The Montclair State University Italian program in partnership with the Inserra Chair are sending the message that MSU needs to capitalize on all the positive energy generated by and surrounding Italian businesses in our area and across the country!”
The “Italian Translation” series is spearheaded and sponsored by The Inserra Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies (Department of Spanish and Italian) in collaboration with the Center for Translation and Interpreting at Montclair State University.
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