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ANALECTA ROMANA
INSTITUTI DANICI
XLIIIANALECTA ROMANA
INSTITUTI DANICI
XLIII
2018
ROMAE MMXVIIIANALECTA ROMANA INSTITUTI DANICI XLIII
© 2019 Accademia di Danimarca
ISSN 2035-2506
Scientific Board
Karoline Prien Kjeldsen (Bestyrelsesformand, Det Danske Institut i Rom, -30.04.18)
Mads Kähler Holst (Bestyrelsesformand, Det Danske Institut i Rom)
Jens Bertelsen (Bertelsen & Scheving Arkitekter)
Maria Fabricius Hansen (Københavns Universitet)
Peter Fibiger Bang (Københavns Universitet)
Iben Fonnesberg-Schmidt (Aalborg Universitet)
Karina Lykke Grand (Aarhus Universitet)
Thomas Harder (Forfatter/writer/scrittore)
Morten Heiberg (Københavns Universitet)
Michael Herslund (Copenhagen Business School)
Hanne Jansen (Københavns Universitet)
Kurt Villads Jensen (Stockholms Universitet)
Erik Vilstrup Lorenzen (Den Danske Ambassade i Rom)
Mogens Nykjær (Aarhus Universitet)
Vinnie Nørskov (Aarhus Universitet)
Niels Rosing-Schow (Det Kgl. Danske Musikkonservatorium)
Poul Schülein (Arkitema, København)
Lene Schøsler (Københavns Universitet)
Erling Strudsholm (Københavns Universitet)
Lene Østermark-Johansen (Københavns Universitet)
Editorial Board
Marianne Pade (Chair of Editorial Board, Det Danske Institut i Rom)
Patrick Kragelund (Danmarks Kunstbibliotek)
Sine Grove Saxkjær (Det Danske Institut i Rom)
Gert Sørensen (Københavns Universitet)
Anna Wegener (Det Danske Institut i Rom)
Maria Adelaide Zocchi (Det Danske Institut i Rom)
Analecta Romana Instituti Danici. — Vol. I (1960) — . Copenhagen: Munksgaard. From
1985: Rome, «L’ERMA» di Bretschneider. From 2007 (online): Accademia di Danimarca.
ANALECTA ROMANA INSTITUTI DANICI encourages scholarly contributions within
the Academy’s research fields. All contributions will be peer reviewed. Manuscripts to be
considered for publication should be sent to: accademia@acdan.it
Authors are requested to consult the journal’s guidelines at www.acdan.itContents Maurizio Paoletti: “Kleom(b)rotos, figlio di Dexilaos, (mi) dedicò”. L’offerta di un atleta vincitore ad Olimpia nel santuario di Francavilla Marittima 7 Jan Kindberg Jacobsen, Peter Attema, Carmelo Colelli, Francesca Ippolito, Gloria Mittica, Sine Grove Saxkjær: The Bronze and Iron Age habitation on Timpone della Motta in the light of recent research 25 Daniel Damgaard: Architectural Terracottas from Etrusco-Italic Temples on the Later Forum of Ostia Archaic Ostia Revisited 91 Christine Jeanneret: Making Opera in Migration. Giuseppe Sarti’s Danish Recipe for Italian Opera 111 Nikola D. Bellucci: Danici sodales. Schow e Zoëga nel carteggio Baffi (e Baffi nel carteggio Zoëga). Analisi e confronti 135 Marianne Saabye: P.S. Krøyer, Pasquale Fosca and the Neapolitan art scene 149 Anna Wegener: Italian Translations of Scandinavian Literature in the Interwar Period: A Bibliographic Overview 179 Reports: Gloria Mittica & Nicoletta Perrone: Espressioni votive e rituali nel Santuario arcaico di Timpone della Motta. Le novità dagli scavi DIR 2017 237 Domenico A. M. Marino & Carmelo Colelli: Crotone. Lo scavo urbano di Fondo Gesù 265
Italian Translations of Scandinavian Literature
in the Interwar Period:
A Bibliographic Overview
by Anna Wegener
Abstract. Various scholars have claimed that Danish literature enjoyed a translation “boom” in Italy in the interwar period, a timespan
which largely coincides with the years of Fascist rule. In some respects at least, a significant rise in the number of Italian translations
of Danish literature would fit well with Italy’s widely documented interest in foreign literature in the 1930s, a period Cesare Pavese
famously dubbed “the decade of translations.” The author of this article puts the translation boom claim to the test by compiling
a bibliography of book-form Italian translations of Scandinavian literature – defined as literature originally written in Danish,
Norwegian or Swedish – from 1886 to 1955 (Appendix A). In order to effectively assess whether the number of Italian translations
was particularly high in the interwar years, the chronological boundaries of the bibliography are deliberately set beyond 1918-1940.
The bibliography does show that the 1930s was indeed a period of intense translative activity, but it also shows that there had been
a previous boom in the transmission of Scandinavian literature to Italy, namely in the 1890s when Henrik Ibsen’s dramas were
launched on the Italian market, and that the number of Italian translations of Scandinavian literature actually peaked during the last
two years of the Second World War. The article furthermore contains an Appendix B in which the translated authors are listed by
source language.
“The decade of translations” American authors and published essays about
In an unpublished 1946 essay titled “L’influsso their work and some of these authors had
degli eventi”, Italian author Cesare Pavese influenced his own writing. He initially turned
(1908-1950) famously designated the 1930s his attention to America because, at that
the decade of translations, “il decennio delle moment, Italian literature did not have a great
traduzioni.”1 With this phrase he alluded to deal to offer him. Fascist Italy was, according
the fact that not only himself but also authors to Pavese, “estranged, debased, petrified – she
and intellectuals such as Elio Vittorini, Emilio needed to be shaken up, unclogged and re-
Cecchi and many others had been intensely exposed to all the spring winds of Europe and
engaged in translating and writing about the world.”2 It was not only American authors
American literature in this period. Pavese who fascinated Pavese and his generation,
had been fascinated by American film and however. Other foreign writers also gripped
literature from an early age; he had translated their attention, as Pavese made clear in the
1
Pavese 1951, 147. I would like to thank Angelina cificata – bisognava scuoterla, decongestionarla e
Zontine for reviewing my English. riesporla a tutti i venti primaverili dell’Europa e del
2
Ibid., 247: “L’Italia era estraniata, imbarbarita, cal- mondo.” All translations are my own unless other-180 Anna Wegener
essay “Ritorno all’uomo” (1945): Not only did Italy publish more translations
than France and Germany in the 1930s,
In our efforts to understand and live, we translations also accounted for a larger
were supported by foreign voices: each proportion of the overall book production in
of us followed and loved with love the Italy than in the two neighboring countries.7
literature of a people, a distant society; he The proportion of translations as part of the
spoke about it, translated it and made it his country’s overall book production remained
ideal country.3 relatively stable during the twenty years of
the regime, but the proportion of translations
In Pavese’s account young Italians were not within narrative literature increased to the
only interested in foreign literature because point that translations accounted for more
they wanted to draw inspiration from it to than one third of all novels published in the
revitalize Italian literature, however, nor 1930s. Furthermore, some of these translations
did foreign texts represent solely a means enjoyed enormous commercial success.
of nourishing the political resistance of Arnoldo Mondadori (1889-1971), who had
the reading public;4 rather, Italians also founded his publishing house in 1907, secured
attributed foreign literature an existential a leading position in the Italian book market
value. Reading foreign literature was a means by importing foreign popular fiction and
of self-discovery: in America, Russia, China publishing the translations in an inexpensive
and elsewhere, they “looked for and found magazine format. The print run of the
themselves.”5 novels in Mondadori’s series Libri gialli (crime
In his 2010 monograph Publishing fiction) and Romanzi della Palma (romances and
Translations in Fascist Italy, Christopher Rundle adventure stories), both of which consisted
grants new meaning to Pavese’s famous largely of translations, significantly outpaced
phrase and argues against what he sees as the those of the average Italian author.8
prevailing tendency to identify Italian literary Rundle’s book is an important example of
history with the interests and concerns of an strong contemporary interest in exploring the
elite group of writers and intellectuals such as role of translations in Fascist Italy, and indeed
Pavese. In Rundle’s view, the 1930s was not this topic began to attract increasing academic
only the decade of translations because writers attention starting in the mid-1990s. In a 1997
such as Pavese and Vittorini were influenced article, Gianfranco Tortorelli pointed out
by the American literature they read and that Luisa Mangoni, likewise taking her cue
occasionally translated, it was also a key period from Pavese’s famous phrase, had a few years
for foreign literature in that “Italy published earlier described the 1930s as a period in
more translations than any other country in which Italian culture was extraordinarily open
the world, and because a taste and a market to “international stimuli.”9 Tortorelli noted
for popular fiction – the reading matter of the that the line of inquiry indicated by Mangoni
masses – was catered to using translations.”6 – the exploration and documentation of
wise indicated. Italy during the Fascist regime.
3
Ibid., 217: “Nei nostri sforzi per comprendere e per 7
Rundle 2010a, 43-66.
vivere ci sorressero voci straniere: ciascuno di noi 8
Ibid., 41.
frequentò e amò d’amore la letteratura di un popo- 9
The exact quotation is: “furono per la cultura italia-
lo, di una società lontana, e ne parlò, ne tradusse, se na uno dei periodi più permeabili alle sollecitazioni
ne fece una patria ideale.” internationali.” Gianfranco Tortorelli (1997, 157)
4
Ibid., 194. quotes Luisa Mangoni’s 1994 essay “Civiltà della
5
Ibid., 217: ”Laggiú noi cercammo e trovammo noi crisi. Gli intellettuali tra fascismo e antifascismo.”
stessi.” Another important text inaugurating the study of
6
Rundle 2010a, 3. See Rundle 2010b for a summary translation in Fascist Italy is Pietro Albonetti’s Non
of the main points of his research on translation in c’è tutto nei romanzi, also published in 1994 but men-
Italian Translations of Scandinavian Literature in the Interwar Period 181
the cultural renewal that took place through the number of translations from American”
translations in interwar Italy – had not yet in the 1924-1938 period.15 In a similar vein, in
been pursued by other scholars although, a study published the same year Mario Rubino
he commented, there were some scattered explores how translations of contemporary
studies showing that post-WWI Italy had German literature into Italian enjoyed a
hosted a lively debate about translations, the similar boom.16 According to Rubino, the
figure of the translator and the inclusion of Italian interest in German literature stemmed
foreign authors in publishers’ series. Tortorelli from a number of interconnected factors,
emphasized that this line of research would including the more accessible character
give the lie to the “journalistic preconception” German literature assumed with the Neue
that the Italian publishing world had to wait Sachlichkeit literary school, a desire on the part
until after the Second World War to recover of Italian audiences to see the world through
all the foreign texts that had presumably been the eyes of their former enemy, the bevy of
barred from circulating in the country during Italian newspaper articles dedicated to the
Fascism.10 Berlin lifestyle in particular and the intriguing
It is no longer true that, as Tortorelli’s once contradictions of the Weimar Republic in
lamented, the scholarly community has failed general, and the popularity of German cinema
to follow Mangoni’s lead. Indeed, as Natascia in Italy.
Barrale points out, this area of study can no Scholars have also provided more general
longer be considered virgin soil.11 Since the explanations for the translation boom.
new millennium, numerous studies have been Although the two main strands of explanation
published exploring issues in this field such as employ different theoretical frameworks,
the (self-)censorship of translations in Fascist both set off from the point that 1930s was a
Italy,12 the importance of high-profile cultural period of crisis – political, financial, cultural
mediators in promoting foreign literature,13 and literary.
and the presence of specific national The first strand of explanation based on
literatures on the literary scene in Italy in this state of “crisis“ adopts Itamar Even-
this period.14 As regards the latter area of Zohar polysystem theory according to which
study, scholars have focused in particular on translated literature can take on an innovative
Italian translations of American and German function in a literary polysystem under various
literature. Valerio Ferme, for instance, noted in circumstances, for instance “when there are
a 2002 study that the United States’ economic turning points, crises, or literary vacuums in
expansion into European markets after a literature.”17 Even-Zohar’s theory states
the First World War and the overwhelming that the dynamics within a given polysystem
number of American films in Italian theaters, can give rise to historical moments “where
films cultivating an image of America as a established models are no longer tenable
land of wealth, freedom and opportunity, for a younger generation.”18 According to
paved the way for a “sensational increase in Valerio Ferme, this was the historical state
tioned only cursorily by Tortorelli (174). porary German literature translated into Italian,
10
Ibid., 158. ten works were translated in 1929 and 16 in 1930.
11
Barrale 2011, 1. There were 12 translations in 1931 and eight in
12
Fabre 1998; Dunnet 2002; Cembali 2006. 1932 while the peak year was 1933, with 35 works
13
Antonello 2015. of contemporary German literature published
14
See the essays collected in Esposito 2004. in Italian. Regarding German literature in Italian
15
Ferme 2002, 41. translation, see also Barrale 2012.
16
Rubino 2002. See also Rubino 2010, 158. Accord- 17
Even-Zohar 2002, 201.
ing to Rubino’s count, whereas the period between 18
Ibid.
1919 and 1928 saw only eight works of contem-182 Anna Wegener
of the Italian literary polysystem in the early Germany. An implicit but fundamental
20th century and this fact led to the rapid element of this argument is that Italian culture
importation of foreign texts;19 what is more, was conservative, provincial and backward-
the Italian polysystem was also “young,” looking at the beginning of the 20th century.
another circumstance Even-Zohar identifies Still other general explanations identify
as potentially enabling translation to play an the reason for the significant number
innovating role. of translations on the Italian market in
The second strand relies on historical the mundane fact that it proved more
description and analysis rather than a specific economically advantageous for publishers to
theoretical model. According to Luisa publish translations than original literature
Mangoni, the “decade of translations” began because translation rights were significantly
in 1929, peaked between 1931 and 1936 and cheaper than the rights to Italian works.22
gradually petered out in the late 1930s when Publishers made a profit from translations
young Italians found outlets other than and, because translations were inexpensive to
foreign literature for, as she phrases it, “their publish, they could also be sold cheaply to the
confused needs.”20 The year 1929 saw the popular classes.
most famous novel about the First World War,
Eric Maria Remarque’s Im Westen nichts Neues, Aim and structure of the article
published in Germany. Remarque‘s novel was This article seeks to explore whether there
merely one of many novels dedicated to the was also a boom in the publication of Italian
same theme, however. This interest in writing translations of Scandinavian literature in the
and reading about the war – an interest which interwar period (1918-1940). By “boom” I
Mondadori skillfully exploited through its mean a rapid and significant increase in the
Romanzi della guerra book series (1930-1932) number of book-form translations published.23
– reflected a widespread feeling that the war As we shall see, various scholars have suggested
represented a rupture in European history. that there was a surge in translation activity as
The 19th century ended with the war, and with regards Danish literature, but that the number
it the culture, ideology, and politics of the pre- of translations diminished after the war. Since
war world.21 Many viewed the new political the political and literary history of the three
systems that emerged in Russia, Italy and Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Norway and
Germany as symbols of this radical break with Sweden) are closely intertwined and the literary
the 19th century. In Mangoni’s interpretation, output of these countries have been and still
the passion for foreign literature in Italy are studied as a whole in Italy and elsewhere,
was yet another aspect of the crisis in and I hypothesize that a possible translation boom
re-negotiation of values generated by the would have affected all three literatures.24 In
war. This passion also represented a kind of other words, the research question posed
rupture, namely the young generation’s desire in this article is: Did Scandinavian literature
to distance themselves from the world of prosper numerically in Italian translation in the
their fathers, although in terms of literature interwar period?
young people did not look primarily to the The first step to answering this question
newly established authoritarian regimes; they involves drawing up a bibliography of tran-
tended to privilege America and Weimar slations. After briefly presenting the existing
19
Ferme 2002, 25-29. 23
This definition is modelled on the OED that de-
20
Mangoni 2004, 18: “[le] loro confuse esigenze.” fines a ‘boom’ as “a sudden bound of activity in any
21
Mangoni 1994, 625. business or speculation” (‘boom’, no. 3).
22
Albonetti 1994, 98-99; Pedullà 1997, 360-361; 24
For various definitions of the adjective ‛Scandina-
Rundle 2010a, 34-41. vian,’ see Vikør 2004.
Italian Translations of Scandinavian Literature in the Interwar Period 183
studies of Scandinavian literature in Italian “the circumstances and the institutions involved
translation in the interwar period, I define the in translational transfer, and the agents […] who
parameters I used to compile data for the bi- actually have carried out these transactions,”
bliography. It goes without saying that the whereas he defined internal translation history
chronological boundaries of the bibliography as an area of research dealing with “the texts
– or research corpus – must exceed the 1918- themselves […] with the modifications and
1940 period, since a period of comparison is deviations that the works have undergone
needed to estimate whether or not there was in translational transfer”30 and likened these
a rapid increase in the number of translations. two branches of historical translation studies
The bibliography thus covers the time span to two kinds of literary history, the former
from 1886 to 1955 (Appendix A). social and institutional, the latter more purely
I chose 1886 as a starting point because literary. In a 2004 article, Frank explicitly
it coincides with the commencement of the framed external translation history in terms
Italian national bibliography, the Bollettino of bibliographic research, writing that
delle pubblicazioni italiane ricevute per diritto di whereas internal translation history seeks to
stampa. The Bollettino was a running national answer the question “what is this particular
bibliography reflecting the new national state’s translation like?” and thus ideally results in
attempt to create cultural cohesion through “a complete description of the translation as
information-sharing which was published a multiply connected literary work,” external
every fortnight (and from 1900 every month) translation history may be said to begin with
by the National Central Library of Florence.25 the question “what was translated and what
The choice of 1886 as a starting point should was not?”31 In the same article, he also raised
not obscure the fact that various Scandinavian a number of other questions to be addressed
authors had appeared in Italian translation in the framework of external translation
well before 1886, including Ludvig Holberg history, questions aimed at identifying the
(translated in 18th century Venice by Elisabetta specific contexts in which translations were
Carminer Turra),26 Fredrika Bremer, Adam published and translators worked in the target
Oehlenschläger and H. C. Andersen,27 but culture.32 He also recognized, albeit implicitly,
these translations fall outside the chronological that important exchanges take place between
boundaries of the research corpus. the two kinds of translation history, giving
By compiling a bibliography of translations, examples of how external translation history
this article investigates the “external history” of could raise questions to be asked when
Italian translations of Scandinavian literature analyzing a particular translation.
in a specific historical period. The concepts The kind of study undertaken here can
of internal and external translation history also be termed “translation archaeology,”
were launched in 1990 by Armin Paul Frank,28 a term coined by Anthony Pym to refer to
head of the so-called Göttingen group of the area of translation history concerned
literary translation, and have since been taken with “answering all or part of the complex
up by various scholars.29 Frank initially defined question ‘who translated what, how, where,
external translation history as concerned with when, for whom and with what effect?’”33
25
On the Bollettino, see Melozzi 2011. 32
Frank’s questions have recently been developed by
26
Kjøller 1997, 9-12. Hanna Pięta into a descriptive-explanatory model
27
For a bibliography of Italian translations of An- for writing external translation history. Pięta 2016,
dersen, see Møller 1974. 359-361.
28
Frank 1990; Frank 2004. 33
Pym 1998, 5. These questions are almost identical
29
E.g. Koster 2002; Pięta 2016. to the ones posed by Frank (who relied on Ken-
30
Frank 1990, 9. neth Burke), but the crucial difference is that Pym
31
Frank 2004, 808-809. puts the who-question first, thereby underscoring184 Anna Wegener
Pym divided translation history not into by cultural historians such as Luisa Mangoni,
internal and external components but rather publishing historians such as Gianfranco
into “archaeology”, “historical criticism” Tortorelli or Germanists such as Mario
and “explanation”, and he considered the Rubino, Scandinavian literature scholars
latter area, concerned with explaining “why Mette Tønnesen and Bruno Berni have
archaeological artefacts occurred when and recently claimed that the interwar period was
where they did, and how they were related particularly important for the establishment
to change,”34 to be the most important one. of a tradition of translating Danish literature
Despite the legitimate importance Pym and into Italian.
other scholars have granted to explanation, In 2009, Tønnesen stated that not only were
however, this article is primarily concerned many more literary works translated into Italian
with unearthing archaeological data rather than in the period from 1920 to 1940 as compared
explaining why they occurred. It provides the to the previous two decades, but the study of
necessary foundations for a more thorough Danish literature was also institutionalized
understanding of the translation flow from in academic sites in the same period. As an
Scandinavia to Italy in the interwar period and example of this institutionalization, she
beyond. mentions that Giuseppe Gabetti (1886-1948),
The bibliographic data listed in Appendix the first director of the Italian Institute for
A derive from existing bibliographic resources. Germanic Studies (Istituto Italiano di Studi
Since these resources in turn primarily glean Germanici) founded in 1932, included Danish
their information from translation paratexts – literature in his definition of Germanic
and more precisely, publisher’s peritexts35 – this literature, thus designating it as part of the
article is an example of the kind of external institute’s legitimate sphere of research.37
translation history that can be written on the Gabetti also contributed to disseminating
basis of the elements of paratexts which are general knowledge about Danish literature
carried over into library catalogues and other by authoring the entry on this topic for
kinds of lists. To employ another Genettian Enciclopedia Italiana as well as writing a short
term, these lists constitute metatexts, i.e. literary history of the Scandinavian countries
texts commenting on other texts.36 Appendix titled Le letterature scandinave (1927) in which
A contains more information that is strictly he focused on J. P. Jacobsen, Henrik Ibsen,
necessary to answer the research question. First, August Strindberg, Verner v. Heidenstam and
because this information required virtually no Selma Lagerlöf. As Tønnesen points out, two
effort to find, being readily available in some periodicals, Il Convegno (1920-1939) and Solaria
of the bibliographies I consulted, and second (1926-1936), also granted special attention to
because a subordinate aim of the bibliography J. P. Jacobsen, and this author’s novels and
is to function as a data reservoir for future short stories were translated into Italian in the
research in the external and internal histories 1920s and 1930s among others by Gabetti.
of Scandinavian literature in Italian translation. Tønnesen does not, however, provide a list of
the works of Danish literature published in
Existing studies of Scandinavian literature in Italy Italian translation; she only notes that more
in the interwar years than 20 Danish authors came out in Italian
Without referencing the research carried out translation from 1920 to 1940, whereas only
the importance he grants to the study of translators 35
Genette 1997, 16-36.
and their social actions. 36
Poupaud et al. 2009, 266.
34
Ibid., 6. 37
On Gabetti and the Italian Institute for Germanic
Italian Translations of Scandinavian Literature in the Interwar Period 185
six Danish authors had their works translated literary and cultural periodicals from the 1920s
into Italian in the previous two decades.38 to the 1940s would seem to indicate, however,
In an article on Danish literature in Italian that Scandinavian literature held no more
translation from the 1770s to the present, than a peripheral position on the Italian book
Bruno Berni also singled out the interwar market despite the translation boom described
years as a particularly important period for the by Tønnesen and Berni.43 Esposito quantifies
transmission of Danish literature to Italy.39 He the average amount of space periodicals
specified that the period was characterized by dedicated to various foreign national
the birth of several publishers’ series dedicated literatures. French literature was clearly the
to contemporary foreign literature, the most most dominant, with 25 percent of all foreign
important of which was probably the 1933 literature contributions coming from French
launch of Mondadori’s Medusa.40 Mondadori writers. French literature was closely followed,
hired literature experts to read foreign titles in and in some periodicals eventually overtaken,
the original languages, including less common by Anglo-American literature. A mere 15
foreign languages, and evaluate their suitability percent of the contributions were dedicated
for Italian translation.41 According to Berni, to what Esposito terms “minor European
there had traditionally been quite a long lag literatures” such as those from Scandinavia.44
between the publication of an original work Indeed, Esposito claims, the panorama
of Danish literature and the Italian translation. of European literature presented by the
Mondadori managed to significantly reduce periodicals was interesting but not at all wide-
this delay because, relying on his team of ranging: there were almost no contributions
experts, the publisher did not have to wait on Portugal, Greece and Holland and only
for the publication of translations in other, rarely did the periodicals dedicate space to the
more central languages before deciding to Nordic, Eastern and Balkan countries.45 In
commission an Italian version.42 With the Esposito’s opinion, in some cases the choice
exception of one author, Isak Dinesen/ to grant attention to these minor literatures
Karen Blixen, Italian publishers lost interest was probably the effect of political events. He
in Danish literature after the Second World argues, for example, that the publication of a
War, however. According to Berni, this period series of Finnish poets by the periodical Circoli
of stagnation lasted until the mid-1980s and in 1938 reflected the political importance
these years of declining interest also constitute granted to Finland as a possible bulwark
a backdrop against which the interwar period against communist Russia.46
stands out, appearing even more markedly as Tønnesen’s and Berni’s articles suggests
a particularly fertile time for the transmission that Scandinavian authors were indeed part of
of Danish literature to Italy. the chorus of foreign voices which sustained
A recent article by Edoardo Esposito on young Italians in their efforts to endure the
the reception of European literature by Italian years of Fascism in Pavese’s memorable
Studies, see also Berni 2018. literature, see Wegener 2018.
38
Tønnesen 2009, 97. The scholar did on purpose not 42
However, recent research shows that Mondadori to
include translations of Andersen and Kierkegaard a large extent relied on mediating translations, par-
in her overview of Italian translations of Danish ticularly German ones, when selecting Scandinavian
literature. literature for Italian translation. Ibid., 46-50.
39
Berni 2013, 131-133. 43
Esposito 2009, 9-31.
40
Regarding the birth of the Medusa series, see De- 44
Ibid., 30.
cleva 1993, 186-192. Out of 149 titles published 45
Ibid., 22.
from 1933 to 1943, 148 were translations. Rundle 46
Tortorelli (1997, 60) also points out that political
2010, 93. events had an impact on Italian publishers’ choice of
41
On Mondadori’s team of experts on Scandinavian texts to translate.186 Anna Wegener
description; additional facts, not mentioned by translations of Scandinavian literature in a
the two scholars, would also seem to indicate specific historical period.50
that Scandinavian literature began to enjoy a My research corpus is based on the
hitherto unprecedented degree of attention in following seven bibliographies, listed here
the interwar period. For instance, three of the in order of the most inclusive to the most
period’s most important translators, Giuseppe delimited: OPAC SBN (Servizio Bibliotecario
Gabetti (1927), Giovanni Bach (1932) and Nazionale), the union database of almost 5,000
Giacomo Prampolini (1938), all authored Italian libraries; Bollettino delle pubblicazioni
literary histories of Scandinavia,47 and italiane ricevute per diritto di stampa; CUBI
Swedish and Danish were offered as course (Catalogo cumulativo 1886-1957 del Bollettino delle
options at the university level when Hans pubblicazioni italiane ricevute per diritto di stampa),
Kristofersen (1928) and Knud Ferlov (1938) a bibliography published from 1965 to 1968
began lecturing at the University of Rome.48 that re-arranged the information provided
Nevertheless, although we should not assume by the Bollettino into alphabetical order and
that the Europe represented in periodicals made it possible, for example, to find all
necessarily matched that represented by the registered Italian translations of H. C.
books, Esposito’s article suggests that Andersen from 1886 to 1957 in the same
Scandinavian literature held no more than a volume rather than scattered across 72
marginal position in the Italian book market. volumes of the Bollettino; Index Translationum,
the international bibliography of translations
Drawing up a bibliography launched by the International Institute of
To outline the external history of Italian Intellectual Cooperation under the League of
translations of Scandinavian literature from Nations in July 1932;51 Riccardo Marmugi’s
1918 to 1940 it is necessary to begin by online databases of Italian translations of
drawing up a bibliography. Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Finland-
This list can be extracted from already Swedish literature; Cecilie Wiborg Bonafede’s
existing bibliographies, and indeed there 1981 bibliography documenting the presence
are various bibliographic resources that of Norway in Italy; and Bruno Berni’s 1999
can be used in creating it. Following Sandra bibliography of Italian translations of Danish
Poupaud, Anthony Pym and Ester Torres literature.52 Only the latter four bibliographic
Simón, I shall term these already existing resources are specifically concerned with
resources “prior filters.”49 As prior filters, translations (and in Bonafede’s case, only
previous bibliographic listings are based on partly so).
selection criteria and choices that condition
which translations the researcher is able to Defining the research filter: Book-form Italian
locate when applying his or her own “research translations of Scandinavian literature
filter.” This latter filter can be defined as the Some scholars define books in contrast to
particular kind of translations the researcher periodical publications while others also
is looking for; in my case, book-form Italian hold that, apart from being non-periodical
47
Prampolini’s literary history of the Scandinavian 61-65.
countries is not a separately published book but 50
Poupaud et al. 2009, 268-269.
part of his world literary history, Storia universale del- 51
On the history of Index Translationum, see Rosi and
la letteratura (1933-1938). On Prampolini’s life and Tukaj 2007; Paloposki 2018.
work, see Culeddu 2018. 52
Two shorter and more recent bibliographies of
48
On the establishment of Swedish language teach- Norwegian and Danish literatures, Ciaravolo 1999
ing in Rome, see Lilliestam 1992, 18. and Berni 2012a, are not taken into consideration in
49
Poupaud et al. 2009, 266-268. See also Pym 1998, this study.Italian Translations of Scandinavian Literature in the Interwar Period 187
publications, books must also contain a prevents me from taking into account the
minimum number of pages to be considered linguistic variety that has characterized
such. For the purposes of this article I employ Scandinavia historically, for example writers’
the definition Hanna Pięta proposed in her use of Latin or English. While downplaying
research on Polish literature in Portuguese Scandinavia’s linguistic heterogeneity, the
translation, that is, “any non-periodical corpus instead highlights the Italian mediators
printed publication made available to the who were proficient in the Scandinavian
general public and subject to the legal deposit languages. It brings into focus a small group
requirements, regardless of the number of of translators who consistently translated
pages.”53 from these languages over the years (Astrid
This study thus does not consider Ahnfelt, Giovanni Bach, Paola Faggioli,
translations issued in periodicals, anthologies Kirsten Montanari Guldbrandsen, Piero
or literary histories. Nor will the corpus Monaci, Maria Pezzé-Pascolato, Giacomo
include prefaces to the works of other writers. Prampolini, Giulio Ricci and others) as well
The focus on book-form publications means as a much larger group of translators who
that I prioritize longer narrative texts over translated only one or two titles, amateurs
poetry and short stories. It goes without or professionals who were most probably
saying that, whereas translations of novels are not proficient in the Scandinavian languages
issued as individual books (unless extracted and who were chosen to carry out these
for publication in periodicals), translations translations for other, as yet unexplored,
of poetry and shorter pieces of prose fiction reasons.
often appear in periodicals and anthologies. The concept of ‘literature’ adopted in this
I shall return to the meaning attributed study is deliberately broad, including novels,
to the term ‘literature’; for now, it should be plays, poetry, essays, biographies, travel
specified that I use ‘Scandinavian literature’ accounts, philosophy and children’s literature.
to refer to literature originally written in one I exclude social science and natural science
of the three Scandinavian languages: Danish, texts as well as dictionaries and manuals of
Norwegian or Swedish. The key parameter various kinds. The bibliography thus does
in this definition of Scandinavian literature not list an anti-British pamphlet by Swedish
is thus a linguistic one. Because authors Law professor Karl Olivecrona;54 it excludes n
outside the Scandinavian mainland also wrote anthology on Sweden55 and fish and fishing in
in Scandinavian languages, the definition Norway56 as well as the numerous translations
includes literature written by Finnish authors of Danish gymnastics educator Jørgen
in Swedish (e.g. Sally Salminen and Edvard Peter Müller’s manuals for men, women and
Robert Gummerus) and Faroese and Icelandic children explaining how to stay fit and healthy
authors in Danish and Norwegian (e.g. William that were published by Sperling & Kupfer
Heinesen, Jørgen-Frantz Jacobsen, Gunnar from the first decade of the 20th century and
Gunnarsson and Kristmann Guðmundsson), onwards.
whereas it excludes works originally written As for the definition of ‘Italian translation’,
in Faroese for which Danish served as a I refer to translations into Italian and published
mediating language (e.g. by Heðin Brú). in Italy.57 Defining translations is notoriously
Defining Scandinavian literature with difficult. Generally, translation studies during
reference to the language of composition the last forty years have gradually embraced
53
Pięta 2009, 18. 56
Lesca 1927.
54
Olivecrona 1941. 57
There are very few Italian translations of Scan-
55
Selander 1945. dinavian literature published outside Italy. These188 Anna Wegener
so-called relativist viewpoints of the concept tied by a set of relationships based on
of translation, meaning that scholars have shared features, some of which may be
largely abandoned fixed definitions of what a regarded – within the culture in question –
translation is (or should be) to instead explore as necessary and/or sufficient.61
what a translation can be in various historical
and cultural settings. A crucial factor in this In critiquing this notion of assumed
development was Gideon Toury’s concept translations, one of Pym’s arguments is that
of “assumed translations” defined as “all Toury does not state explicitly “who is doing
utterances in a [target] culture which are the assuming.”62 Is it the target reader in the
presented or regarded as translations, on any past or the translation scholar in the present?
grounds whatever.”58 Toury’s concept allows Given Toury’s focus on translations as facts
a corpus of translations to include pseudo- of target culture, it would seem obvious that
translations (originals masquerading as it is the target reader who posits that a given
translations) as well as adaptations presented text is a translation, but Toury’s definition and
and accepted as translations. Many scholars particularly his cautious phrasing “tentatively
have considered the notion of assumed posit the existence of another text …” could
translations an effective tool for exploring also suggest that it is instead the translation
the variability of the translation concept researcher who makes these assumptions.
across cultures and historical periods, but it More importantly, Pym has argued that the
has also met with criticism.59 One of Toury’s translation scholar cannot impose the three
most severe critics is Anthony Pym, although postulates “directly on the material world,”
paradoxically Pym’s thinking on the concept meaning that s/he would normally not pick
of translation is also dependent on the Israeli up a text at random to see whether or not it
scholar’s reasoning. The working definition of fits the postulates.63 To find translations, the
translation employed in this study is based on scholar instead relies on the way texts have
Pym’s criticism of Toury; however, it should been classified in the past. In other words,
remain clear that Pym also relies on Toury’s s/he relies on previous lists or filters. Since
thinking.60 Toury defined assumed translations as “all
Specifying what the notion of assumed utterances in a [target] culture which are
translations includes, Toury states that presented or regarded as translations,” it is
this notion can be broken down into three clear that, contrary to what Pym’s criticism
assumptions or postulates: the source text would suggest, he is attentive to labels and
postulate, the transfer postulate and the especially the light these labels might shed
relationship postulate. If one takes these three on the variability of the translation concept.
postulates together, an assumed translation is However, there is still significant validity to
Pym’s point that the researcher does not,
any target-culture text for which there are metaphorically speaking, till virgin soil, but
reasons to tentatively posit the existence of rather studies textual material which others
another text, in another culture/language, have already described and that it is precisely
from which it was presumably derived by these descriptions that bring a given text to the
transfer operations and to which it is now researcher’s attention. Especially when sifting
include Johannes Jørgensen’s pamplet La campana 60
In the following I refer to Pym’s criticism of
Roeland, issued in France in 1916, and Kristmann Toury in Pym 1998, 58-67. See also Pym 2007.
Guðmundsson’s novel E la vita continua, issued in 61
Toury 2012, 31.
Switzerland in 1946. 62
Pym 1998, 59.
58
Toury 2012, 27. 63
Ibid., 61.
59
D’hulst 2013, 7-11.Italian Translations of Scandinavian Literature in the Interwar Period 189
through long lists in search of translations, be premature to suppose that unmarked
reliance on past classifications is not only translations were always perceived by target
useful but necessary. readers as originals and not translations. If
Following Pym, then, I define translations one reads Pym’s definition of unmarked
on the basis of paratexts.64 As Pym reminds translations carefully, it is clear that he relies
us, elements of the paratext are carried over on Toury’s definition of assumed translations
into lists of all kinds – library catalogues, and only departs from this latter definition at
publishers catalogues (metatexts) – and allow one crucial point, namely the choice of the
us to locate translations.65 The research corpus coordinating conjunction ‘and’ instead of
thus includes declared translations. The ‘or.’ Pym defines unmarked translations as
translational status of a text may be indicated translations “falsely presented and received
in various ways. Most explicitly, the paratext as originals” (my emphasis), whereas Toury
may distinguish between an author and a defines assumed translations as translations
translator, but it may also omit mention of presented or regarded as translations. Pym’s
the translator altogether even while indicating definition is undoubtedly too restrictive, as
in other ways that the work in question has one could imagine cases where a translation
been produced by translative procedures, for was indeed presented as an original without
instance by adding phrases like “romanzo being regarded as such by target culture
svedese”66 to the title. readers.
Defining translations on the basis of
paratexts implies that the researcher initially Establishing the research corpus
filters out the so-called unmarked translations a) Data collection
or pseudo-originals Pym defines as “translated I established my research corpus in the
texts falsely presented and received as following manner: as the point of departure,
originals.”67 Since it was not uncommon to I used Marmugi’s databases of Danish,
publish unmarked translations in Italy in Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish Literature
the first part of the 20th century, it would be (for Finland-Swedish writers), relying on the
unfortunate not to include these texts in the internet browser’s search function to extract
research corpus. The corpus therefore also translations published in the relevant period.
comprises texts for which there is convincing I then compared the information provided
archaeological evidence to suggest that the by Marmugi with the SBN database. If
ultimate source text is a Scandinavian one. The Marmugi’s data disagreed with those present in
primary guideline adopted in this study for the national union catalogue, I generally relied
assuming the existence of such source texts is on the latter. The next step was to search the
the name of the author and title of the target SBN to see if Marmugi had included all Italian
text. To return to Pym’s critique of Toury, translations of the authors he had listed. I
in these cases the translations are assumed also searched the national database to check
translations according to the researcher but if there were any Italian titles containing the
not the target culture. And yet, it would words “danese”, “norvegese”, or “svedese.”
64
Ibid., 61-65. indication of the source language from which the
65
According to Genette, the life span of paratextual target text is translated may change over time, and
elements is often brief. In a diachronic perspective, names of translators may be added or removed
paratextual classifications of texts as translations from the paratext. See Appendix A for examples of
provide good examples of the fugitive nature of changes of paratextual classification.
the paratext. A target text may not be presented as 66
See Lagerlöf 1910.
a translation when it is first published and only later 67
Pym 1998, 60-65.
be paratextually classified as such; the paratextual190 Anna Wegener
The appearance of one of these terms in a history of book-form Italian translations of
title (as elements of the paratext carried over Scandinavian literature, and consists of nine
into the library catalogue) could indicate headings: Author(s), Target Language Title(s),
that the ultimate source text of the book in Publisher, Source Language, Mediating
question was a Scandinavian one.68 Finally, I Language, Price, Translator(s), Reprint(s) and
checked Marmugi’s data against Berni’s and Entry Number. Some titles are furthermore
Bonafede’s bibliographies. For every book I provided with an asterix (*). In Appendix B,
included in the corpus, I indicated the entry the translated authors are listed according to
number allotted to the publication by the source language.
Bollettino. For the most part it was possible The first heading is the author’s name.
to extract the entry number directly from the The name is entered as it is spelled in a
SBN, but in some cases it was necessary to Scandinavian language. The bibliographies
consult the printed volumes of the periodical thus do not register the various Italianized
available at the National Central Library of versions of the names of Scandinavian
Rome. authors (e.g. Giovanni/Gianni Cristiano
On some occasions, Marmugi recorded Andersen, Enrico/Enryk Ibsen, Severino
translations that were not listed in the national Kierkegaard, Giovanni Joergensen etc.). If a
bibliography. There was thus not a complete book was published under a pseudonym, the
overlap between the books effectively published corpus registers this name rather than the
in Italy in the period and those registered by writer’s original name (e.g. the corpus lists
the National Central Library of Florence. Jens Anker instead of Robert Hansen).70 In
This should not, however, be taken to suggest some instances, books include works by two
that there was a large body of unregistered authors, and in these cases the names of both
book production in Italy at the time, since the contributing authors are recorded. However,
figures provided by the Bollettino are generally I have included only books that have as their
considered to constitute a sufficient basis for primary author a Scandinavian-language
estimating the overall scope of national book writer, a fact which leads me to eschew
production.69 Nevertheless, the number of thematic collections such as a collection
books in the research corpus not listed in the of four Nobel-prize winners including
national bibliography is surprisingly high. I Selma Lagerlöf,71 of various fairytale writers
have included these “invisible” translations in (Andersen, Grimm, Perrault)72 or of multiple
the research corpus while specifying that they religious writers addressing a single topic
were not listed by the Bollettino. (Jørgensen, Huysmans, Coppée). 73
The second heading is dedicated to the
b) Structure of the research corpus TL title(s). Both in cases of books containing
The research corpus consists of the works by more than one author and of books
bibliography appendixed to the article containing more than one work by the same
(Appendix A). As mentioned above, it author (e.g. more than one drama by Henrik
spans the period from 1886 to 1955, thus Ibsen or August Strindberg), the titles of all
covering seventy years of the external works are recorded.
68
This procedure yielded one surprising result, name- 69
Borruso 1983, 82, n. 1.
ly the anti-British propaganda pamphlet titled Lon- 70
Robert Hansen (1883-1957) published a series of
dra sotto il fuoco della V. 1, published by Mondadori in crime novels under the pseudonym Jens Anker in
1944 (when the publishing house had fallen into the the first part of the 20th century. Hougaard 1996,
hands of the Italian Social Republic) and allegedly 15-16.
authored by a Swedish journalist named Alfons 71
Galsworthy 1934.
Rangholm. There is, however, reason to doubt that 72
Andersen 1955.
this person ever actually existed. 73
Cojazzi 1929.Italian Translations of Scandinavian Literature in the Interwar Period 191
The third heading is the publisher’s scholars have identified on the basis of textual
name, whereas SL in the fourth heading analysis.80
stands for (ultimate) source language. The The sixth heading is the price of the book.
bibliography does not indicate potential The Bollettino only recorded the price when
Italian misconceptions as to the language of it was printed on the cover, so it was not
the source-text.74 It also does not distinguish possible in all cases to find out how much a
between New Norwegian and Bokmål, listing given book cost. According to Ferme, in the
both languages as ‘Norwegian.’ Obviously, interwar period most readers could afford a
potential difficulties arise in the classification book that cost less than L. 4, whereas books
of the language of certain Norwegian authors priced between L. 5 and L. 10 were already
such as Ibsen. The bibliography considers too expensive for the average reader. Books
the source language of Ibsen’s works to be that cost more than L. 10 were comparable to
Norwegian even though it could be argued present-day luxury editions.81
that he wrote in Danish.75 The seventh heading is dedicated to the
ML, the fifth heading, stands for mediating name(s) of the translator(s). Where possible,
language, i.e. the language through which the full name(s) are provided. In some cases, the
ultimate source text may have been mediated names of translators were removed from
to the ultimate target language (e.g. Danish or added to the paratext when the book
to German/French/Volapük to Italian).76 In was reprinted. I provide the name(s) of the
principle, ascertaining whether a translation translator(s) as it/they appear on the first
is indirect – an indirect translation being impression of the book and indicate in a
defined as “any translation based on a source footnote if there were any changes in crediting
(or sources) which is itself a translation into translators when the book was reprinted.
a language other than the language of the In cases of pseudo-originals/unmarked
original, or the target language”77 – is not a translations, the translator’s name is recorded
task for external translation history because as Anon.
it is a question that can normally only be The eighth heading indicates reprints.
fully resolved through textual analysis.78 In Although this study sets out to discover if
some cases, however, the paratext explicitly there was a significant rise in the number of
states that a given translation is an indirect new translations from 1918 to 1940, figures for
translation. Whereas one should probably reprints are recorded for the purposes of future
be extremely wary of trusting claims about research since they testify to the commercial
directness made in paratexts,79 it is assumed viability of a given text as well as the fact that the
here that claims of indirectness – a claim publisher might have considered this particular
carried over for the most part into library text a safe bet in an uncertain political climate.82
catalogues – correspond to the truth. The The term ‘reprint’ in this case indicates a new
bibliography records all cases of explicitly impression of a text which had already been
indicated indirectness and thus does not published. The reprint and first impression are
mention cases of translation indirectness that part of the same edition and, as regards textual
74
Andersen’s fairytales are sometimes indicated as 77
Kittel & Frank 1991, 3; quoted from Marin-Lacarta
having been translated from the “original” Swedish 2017, 135.
version. Berni 2007, 69. 78
Rosa et al. 2017, 125.
75
On Ibsen’s language, see Falkenberg 2000. 79
Ringmar 2012, 143; Marin-Lacarta 2017, 138.
76
To describe the chain of languages and texts in- 80
See e.g. Ciaravolo 2018, 72-76; Wegener forthco-
volved in indirect translation I rely on the termi- ming.
nology recently proposed by Alessandra Assis Rosa 81
Ferme 2002, 50.
et al. 2017, 115: “the ultimate ST/SL > mediating 82
In tracking patterns of importation of foreign lit-
text/language > ultimate TT/TL.” erature in Nazi Germany, Kate Sturge finds that an192 Anna Wegener
make-up, in principle the reprint is identical Italian translations of Scandinavian literature,
to the first impression.83 In reality, changes 1918-1940
of various kinds may have been introduced To return to the research question driving
into the reprint, but textual analysis would be this article, was there in fact a boom in Italian
required to verify the existence and extent of translations of Scandinavian literature in the
any such modifications. interwar period? Did Scandinavian literature
I regard a translation as a reprint if a prosper numerically in Italian translation?
previous translation by the same translator The research corpus comprises 574
already exists. I also consider a text a reprint Italian translations of Scandinavian literature
if the translator is the same but the issuing published in the period between 1886 and
publishing house is different than the one 1955 (excluding reprints). The data were
which first brought the translation onto first plotted onto a graph representing the
the market,84 although this is admittedly a diachronic distribution of translations. This
somewhat loose use of the term ‘reprint’ figure shows that there were various peaks in
because generally for a text to be considered the translation flow from Scandinavia to Italy
a reprint it must be printed from the same over the years (see Graph 1). After a period
plates as the first impression. The number with few or no translations (for instance, in
of reprints listed is undoubtedly significantly 1890 and 1891) the first peak occurred in 1894
lower than the reality, since the research (14 translations). The next peaks took place in
corpus only includes reprints recorded by the interwar period, in 1929 and 1933 (with 18
CUBI. This catalogue ended in 1957, so the and 19 translations, respectively). However,
corpus only includes reprints issued before the rise in Italian translations of Scandinavian
this year. Furthermore, the data on reprints literature truly culminated during the last
provided by CUBI are undoubtedly somewhat years of the Second World War, reaching its
distorted, because the catalogue does not, for apex in 1945 (35 translations). The number
example, list any of Mondadori’s reprints of translations diminished radically in the
despite the fact that some titles were issued immediate post-war period only to begin to
many times, whereas, in contrast, it does rise again in the early 1950s. The year 1954
record the reprints issued by Attilio Barion, thus proved fertile for the transmission
a Milanese publisher specializing in cheap of Scandinavian literature to Italy (29
editions of modern masterpieces.85 translations).
An asterisk (*) indicates that the first The data were also arranged in a table
impression was published before 1886 and showing the average number of translations
that the book listed in the bibliography is a published per year, in five-year increments.
reprint. For this reason, it is not to be counted These average values smooth out the peaks
in the final enumeration of translations. while making general increases or decreases
The ninth heading is the entry number of in the volume of translations more apparent.
the first impression of the given translation, The number of translations doubled in the
according to the Bollettino.86 first half of the 1930s as compared to the first
increase in the number of reprints suggested in- 84
An example is Giacomo Prampolini’s translation of
creased caution on the part of publishers keen to Knut Hamsun’s Victoria, which was first published
avoid the risks of pre- and post-publication censor- in 1925 by Giuseppe Morreale and later (in 1938)
ship procedures. Sturge 2004, 58. released by Corbaccio.
83
For the technical terms used to define the relation- 85
On Attilio Barion, see Brambilla 1997.
ship between different copies of the same work, 86
In some cases, however, the Bollettino does not reg-
see Gaskell 1995. ister the first impression, only a later reprint.You can also read
