Key clusters as indicators of translator style

Abstract

Abstract This paper discusses the issue of translator style through the comparison of two Italian translations of H. P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness. Using a corpus linguistic approach, this paper proposes a method for the identification of potential indicators of translator style based on key cluster analysis. Comparing the two translations with this method identifies which clusters – i.e., repeated sequences of words – are used more frequently by one translator compared to the other. The analysis shows that the two translators differ in their usage of some linguistic features, specifically Italian euphonic -d, locative clitics, and distal demonstratives, which are then analysed as stylistic divergences.