by Alessio Mattana
Since the 19th century, Italian critics of Ugo Foscolo have found the 1812 translation of Laurence Sterne’s A Sentimental Journey (1768) lacking in the patriotic overtones that characterize politically-charged works such as the epistolary novel Ultime Lettere di Jacopo Ortis (1798). In this article I aim at challenging this dichotomy by investigating in what ways Foscolo crafted his translation so as to fit his own political agenda. Specifically, I argue that the language of Viaggio Sentimentale deliberately underscores the themes of hatred of tyranny and celebration of freedom that feature in Sterne’s original text.