Translating Italian Fiction for the Anglophone Market: Transnational Networks, Business Alliances, Archives (1950s-1980s)
Lecture by Professor Daniela La Penna (Reading)
In this lecture, Professor La Penna adopts a micro-historical approach to bring to light the cultural, economic, and social dynamics surrounding the English translation of Italian titles in the Anglo-American book market after the Second World War. La Penna will examine a series of case studies, emerging from the Archives of British Publishers and Printing held at the University of Reading and pertaining to Jonathan Cape and Chatto & Windus. By evaluating the archival evidence surrounding these ‘translation events’, La Penna will reconstruct the transatlantic alliances that the British firms tried to forge with American publishing houses between 1950s and 1980s to spread around the translation costs and ensure greater geographical diffusion for the translated titles.
Speaker’s bio:
Daniela La Penna is Professor of Modern Italian Culture & Translation at the University of Reading (UK) where she also co-directs the Centre for Book Cultures and Publishing. Her work has focussed on multilingual literary production, with her publications exploring the work of Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Amelia Rosselli (‘La promessa d’un semplice linguaggio’: Lingua e stile nella poesia di Amelia Rosselli, 2013), Luigi Meneghello (Meneghello: Fiction, Scholarship, Passione civile, 2012, ed.), Anna Maria Ortese, and Vincenzo Consolo. She has published widely on translation cultures and the intersection between periodical studies and publishing. Her most recent publication is The Edinburgh Companion to Women in Publishing (Edinburgh University Press, 2024), where she was responsible for the section on Women as Periodical Editors.
Event Details:
Tuesday 15 October
Starts at 6:00PM
Location: online and in person, Language Lounge, University of Liverpool, 1-7 Abercromby Square, Liverpool, L69 7WY
Zoom link:
Zoom will commence from 17:30 15/10/24 I Join Zoom Meeting: https://liverpool-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/96435589181?pwd=mEtZXHfBaKwin99buiZHbG3Xf4Lx7u.1
Meeting ID: 964 3558 9181
Passcode: g0W%MLbR
Cost: free to all
All events have been co-funded by the Dante Alighieri Society.