From a translator’s Diary

by Rossella Bernascone

Rossella Bernascone shares her experience of revising her translation of Joan Didion’s Democracy thirty years after its first appearance. Since she couldn’t find a copy of the English original, she started listening to the audio-book and felt compelled to revise the text following the rhythm of actress Denise Poirier’s reading. In her diary, memories of the circumstances in which the translation was first made in the mid ’80s mix with reflections on the process of translating and writing.