Theatre self-translation as cultural renegotiation and a tool of empowerment: the case of Luigi Pirandello

ABSTRACT

This article investigates theatre self-translation as cultural renegotiation and a tool of empowerment, in terms of the relation between language and dialect, and the conceptualization of “national”. Building on previous research on the figure of self-translator, the issues of power and the monolingual paradigm, the article analyzes Luigi Pirandello’s self-translation of Tutto per bene from Italian into Sicilian. The case study begins with an outline of the Italian sociolinguistic context and Pirandello’s views on language, dialect and translation, followed by a detailed analysis of significant changes made in self-translation and of the (in)visibility of the Sicilian and Italian plays. While this self-translation occurs between language and dialect, it still involves cultural renegotiation dictated by a shift in the sociolinguistic reality. Pirandello’s dialect self-translation demonstrates that self-translators are agents helping challenge the existing power relations and that self-translation is a tool of empowerment, recognition and cultural inclusion.

KEYWORDS:

• Self-translation
• cultural renegotiation
• Pirandello
• dialect
• empowerment

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The expression “minor(ized)” follows Castro, Mainer, and Page (2017) who propose this term for languages/literatures considered inferior, to challenge their secondary position and emphasise their resistance.

2 See also the discussion of the myth of monolingualism of national cultures by Edwin Gentzler (2008), in relation to Americas.

3 For further information on Pirandello’s self-translations see D’Amico (in Pirandello 2007a), Varvaro (in Pirandello 2007b) and Zappulla Muscarà (2000).

4 Marazzini (2004) emphasizes the authoritarian politics which involved the antidialect debate and the repression of ethnic minorities.

5 Although Pirandello joined the Fascist party in 1924, he considered himself apolitical and his work and life contrasted in various ways with Fascist ideology. His initial judgement of Fascism changed considerably within a few years, but he avoided an official rupture. See Giudice (1963).

6 The analysis is based on the 1920 Bemporad edition of the Italian text and on Zappulla Muscarà’s edition of the Sicilian text.

7 See the catalogue of Pirandello’s theatrical works by D’Amico (Pirandello 2007a), the accounts of Varvaro (Pirandello 2007b) and Zappulla Muscarà (2000).

8 For further information on self-translation of 'A birritta cu 'i ciancianeddi see Zappulla Muscarà (1988) and Kampert (2019).

9 The publications dedicated to Pirandello’s self-translation have focused mainly on Liolà, e.g. De Francisci (2014), Lepschy (2009), Salibra (1977).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Magdalena Kampert

Magdalena Kampert is a lecturer in translation studies at the University of Glasgow. She has written on self-translation in the Italian and Polish contexts, and on the Sicilian translation of Le Petit Prince. She has also acted as a guest editor for the special issue “Rethinking (Self-)translation in (Trans)national Contexts” of the journal New Voices in Translation Studies (2020).