Editing Non-English Quotations and Their Translations in Scholarly Texts: A Case Study

by Carla DeSantis

As an editor of scholarly texts, I work with complex texts that include multiple elements to be considered, such as bibliographies, footnotes, quotations from primary and secondary sources, and multilingual content. While all these elements must be carefully reviewed for correctness, completeness, and consistency, there is one that can easily slip by the untrained eye.

Take the following example, a statement regarding 15th-century proofreading of handwritten manuscripts:

As Migliorini and Baldelli state, “The proofreader, rather than ensuring that the printed book complied with the author’s intent (a concern that has only become established in modern times), took care to present it correctly and consistently from a grammatical point of view.”¹

¹ Bruno Migliorini and Ignazio Baldelli, Breve storia della lingua italiana (Sansoni, 1984), 119.

The quotation is within double quotation marks – check. There is a footnote documenting the source of the quotation – check. The citation is formatted properly according to my prescribed Chicago Manual of Style 18 (CMOS) – check. Does anything else stand out to you as an editor?

Misrepresenting quoted material through translation

What I notice is that the quotation is in English, yet the source cited has an Italian title. This is an issue I encounter all the time, especially as I specialize in multilingual texts (which, in my context, I define as mainly English texts containing non-English content): authors taking the liberty of translating a non-English source into English without providing the original text or indicating that what has been quoted is, in fact, a translation (frequently their own; NB: the translation above is my own, provided as a case study). 

The issue at stake is that, if the example above were left as is, the reader would be left with the impression that the quoted English text appears, as is, in English, in Migliorini and Baldelli on page 119 – which it does not. The entire book cited is written in Italian (with some Latin quotations), including the quoted sentence. In scholarly work, this does not pass as accurately quoting or citing your sources.

To translate or not?

So, what do I do when I encounter this situation? I leave a query to the effect, “The source cited appears to be in Italian, yet an English quotation is provided here. Please indicate whether the English text appears in the original. If not, please provide the source of the English translation here, along with the original Italian text.” According to CMOS 12.6, “It is impossible to overemphasize the importance of meticulous accuracy in quoting from the works of others. Authors should check every direct quotation against the original.” 

CMOS chapter 11 deals with quotations from other languages and indicates that an English translation may accompany a non-English quotation (11.14), but nowhere does it indicate that the English translation alone may be provided. The decision of whether or not to provide an accompanying translation at all depends on the “linguistic abilities of the intended audience” (11.14).

How to quote and translate correctly

What, then, are the options for an author wishing to quote the text from Migliorini and Baldelli, yet provide an English translation? According to CMOS (11.14–15), there are several options:

1. The original text may be quoted, with the English translation following in parentheses:

As Migliorini and Baldelli state, “Il correttore di tipografia, piuttosto che curare che il libro a stampa riesca conforme al volere dell’autore (preoccupazione che solo modernamente si è affermata), pensa a presentarlo con un aspetto grammaticale corretto e coerente” (The proofreader, rather than ensuring that the printed book complied with the author’s intent [a concern that has only become established in modern times], took care to present it correctly and consistently from a grammatical point of view).¹

2. The English translation may be provided within quotation marks, with the original text following in parentheses:

As Migliorini and Baldelli state, “The proofreader, rather than ensuring that the printed book complied with the author’s intent (a concern that has only become established in modern times), took care to present it correctly and consistently from a grammatical point of view” (Il correttore di tipografia, piuttosto che curare che il libro a stampa riesca conforme al volere dell’autore [preoccupazione che solo modernamente si è affermata], pensa a presentarlo con un aspetto grammaticale corretto e coerente).¹

(NB: In these cases, I have indicated the citation of Migliorini and Baldelli to be included in a note. CMOS 11.15 states that the source of the original may be included in parentheses preceding the original, but I prefer to do this only when it is possible to use a short form or title.)

3. If including the parenthetical translation or original text makes the main text appear too cluttered, either may be provided in a note:

As Migliorini and Baldelli state, “The proofreader, rather than ensuring that the printed book complied with the author’s intent (a concern that has only become established in modern times), took care to present it correctly and consistently from a grammatical point of view.”¹

¹ “Il correttore di tipografia, piuttosto che curare che il libro a stampa riesca conforme al volere dell’autore (preoccupazione che solo modernamente si è affermata), pensa a presentarlo con un aspetto grammaticale corretto e coerente.” Bruno Migliorini and Ignazio Baldelli, Breve storia della lingua italiana (Sansoni, 1984), 119; my translation.

or

As Migliorini and Baldelli state, “Il correttore di tipografia, piuttosto che curare che il libro a stampa riesca conforme al volere dell’autore (preoccupazione che solo modernamente si è affermata), pensa a presentarlo con un aspetto grammaticale corretto e coerente.”¹

¹ “The proofreader, rather than ensuring that the printed book complied with the author’s intent (a concern that has only become established in modern times), took care to present it correctly and consistently from a grammatical point of view” (my translation). Bruno Migliorini and Ignazio Baldelli, Breve storia della lingua italiana (Sansoni, 1984), 119.

Or simply paraphrase . . .

Note that in the three examples above, the original Italian is always provided somewhere. In these cases, the source of the English translation must also be provided, either by citing the published translation quoted or, if the author’s own, by adding “my translation.” There is, however, a fourth alternative that does not involve quoting the original source.

4. Paraphrase the original quotation in English, in which case no quotation marks are necessary and the original non-English text does not need to be provided (although it still needs to be cited accordingly):

According to Migliorini and Baldelli, the role of a 15th-century manuscript proofreader was to ensure that a text was presented correctly and consistently, not necessarily to present one that conformed to what the author wanted to say.¹

¹ Bruno Migliorini and Ignazio Baldelli, Breve storia della lingua italiana (Sansoni, 1984), 119.

In this last case, no quotation marks surround the paraphrased text to indicate that the author is quoting directly from the text cited, so the original Italian does not need to be provided.

Editors can help

As an author, it is crucial to quote and document non-English sources correctly in order to give your readers an accurate account of what is found in your sources. As an editor of such texts, it is equally crucial to recognize when non-English sources are being quoted and cited, to query these professionally and appropriately as needed, and to offer your clients the proper options to make sure that their final text will be as correct and complete as possible.

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Carla DeSantis is a freelance editor, translator, authenticity reader, and indexer based in Toronto. She holds a doctorate in medieval Latin language and literature (minor in Romance philology), and specializes in working on scholarly/academic texts in the humanities and social sciences, especially multilingual texts. Carla is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading, as well as a member of Editors Canada and the Editorial Freelancers Association. In 2020, she was awarded the Ewart-Davuley Indexing Award for excellence in indexing by the Indexing Society of Canada. Carla is a published author on medieval Latin topics and the author of the blog Parchment to PDF. For more on Carla’s experience and the types of projects she works on, see www.carladesantisediting.com/.

This article was copy edited by Leslie Lapides, a.k.a. Word Crisper, a journalist and freelance editor of several decades who works in both the United States and Canada.