Domestication as creativity in mediated discourse

Mediation is a key word in the current political and social climate and a great deal of debate surrounds the entire issue of how information and events are filtered and relayed. This holds true for contemporary texts as well as for those that undergo a process of mediation over a longer time span, as, for instance, the translation of Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales by Ermanno Barisone for a modern Italian audience. The present paper investigates the nature of mediated discourse in the light of translation studies in order to investigate its relation to translation. It aims to show the multifarious factors underlying the act of translation and the fundamental role played by the translator in the mediating process. In particular, it argues that, contrary to commonly-held beliefs, the translator may opt for domesticating translation strategies without forgoing originality and creativity. An outstanding illustration is Barisone’s translation of The Canterbury Tales where the recontextualized text is at the same time easily accessible and highly scholarly in its interpretation.