Skopos Theory and the Sardic version of Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea

The article aims to highlight how a text can change in translation if the translator’s (or publisher’s/editor’s) main concern is to give prominence to the target culture and prestige to the target language. Drawing on Vermeer’s Skopos theory (1989/2004: 221) and addressing the question of the translators’ voice, I will analyse the Sardinian version of Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea (Hemingway 1952), reflecting especially on the style of this translation and its importance in Sardinian literature. A comparative analysis of the two texts will show how the final product can differ from the original and serve a new cause that is different from the author’s, but no less effective. Given that Hemingway’s style is highly distinctive and precisely built, the question arises if the translator manages to maintain the same unique style or, if not, whether this new text can still be considered authentic, faithful to the source text and relevant.