Categoria: Abstracts numero 1

by Daniele Petruccioli – Translating literature means translating voices. To construct their narrative all authors use a certain number of different attitudes towards language that involve lexis, syntax and rhythm. This happens not only for the mimetic construction of characters and in the particular case of the narrator, but also for the inner structuring of the text. The sum of all these attitudes forms what we call the voice of the author. Authors use different methods, conscious and unconscious, to construct their voices. What kind of techniques, tools and tricks does a translator use in order to recognize and recreate the different voices in a book? Is he/she justified in using his/her own personal memories, unconscious mind, idiolect and family sayings in approaching this task?

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by Elisa Leonzio – This paper aims to introduce Italian readers to the writings of colonial and post-colonial German-speaking authors, a chapter of German literature which for the most part is neglected by scholars both in Germany and abroad. After a brief introduction, the article explores the historical background of (post)colonial German literature, examining the colonial power of the Wilhelminian Empire and its rapid decline. A second part of the article is devoted to the language of propaganda used in the literature, reference works and political texts of the pre-colonial and colonial eras. The third and last section considers what is known as “colonial amnesia”, a phenomenon which affected both the GDR and FRG after World War II, and describes how memory was recovered thanks to the efforts of popular weekly magazines, newspapers and television programs in the GDR and to the publication, over the last seven years, of two autobiographies written by young German-Namibian women.

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by Marta Boneschi – When I read a book, I feel that I am not alone. Someone is sitting at my side, an invisible and silent friend: the translator. I usually don’t know him (or her), yet he/she is there. If I enjoy my reading, if the Italian words flow through my soul, he/she is still a friend. Sometimes he/she fails, and we are no longer friends, because he/she stands between the plot and the characters and me, shutting a door. Sometimes I complain about his/her hard task: to translate, without cheating. Sometimes I feel deeply grateful that an invisible and silent friend, a subtle and intelligent mind, is sitting at my side.

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REMINISCENCES&GRUMPS — Our Old Reader entertains us with anecdotes and reminiscences of his past readings as he muses over language change and over the role of the craft of translation today.

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