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l’utilitàdelletraduzioni’(‘Onthemannerandusefulnessoftranslations’).Inthis
article,whichpraisedVincenzoMonti’stranslationoftheIliadandthe
expressivenessoftheItalianlanguage,sheurgedItalianstoundertakethe
translationofworksofmodernEuropeanliterature.Everydaylanguage,she
claimed,wasfarsuperiortothatlearnedfrombooks;openinguptonew
languagesmeantenrichingtheexistingvocabulary.InMadamedeStaël’sview,
imitationoftheclassicsshouldnotbesubstitutedwithimitationsof
contemporaryworks:contactbetweenliteraturesandcultureswasusefulabove
allforbroadeningmindsanddevelopingknowledge.Thearticlealsocriticized
theItaliancultureofthetimeasbeingtotallydevoidofmodernity,dominatedas
itwasbyobstinatenostalgicsorbymenofletterswhocaredonlyforthe
soundsofwordsandnottheideastheycontained.
Thereactiontothisarticle,particularlytoitscriticismofItaly’smenofletters,
merelyservedtofiretheageolddebateonthesuperiorityoftheclassicsover
modernwriting,imitationoveroriginality,laborlimaeoverartisticgenius,a
debatewhichheldItalianintellectuals’attention,fruitlessly,fordecadestocome.
MadamedeStaël’sarticledidnotsignificantlyaffectthequantityoftranslation
output(compare,forexample,thepoetrycollectionParnasoStranieroof
1797andthatof1848:ninetenthsofthetotalnumberofpagestranslatedare
stilldedicatedtoGreek,LatinandHebrew).Thesubsequentincreasewasdue
totheprofoundchangesthathadtakenplaceduringthepreviousperiod,
namely,thegrowthinreadershipandtheincreasingimportanceofEuropean
nationallanguagesinallareasoflife.
Someoriginalideasabouttranslationinthisperiod(runningagainstthegrainof
MadamedeStaël’sargument)wereexpressedbyGiacomoLeopardi(1798–
1837),thegreatlyricalpoetfromRecanati.Inhisnotebooks(Zibaldone,
writtenbetween1817and1832,butpublishedonlyin1898)therearemany
interestingobservationsderivedfromhisexperienceasameticulousandelegant
translator,especiallyfromGreek.Leopardididnotbelieveanythinggoodcould
comefromthetranslationofmodernwriters,convincedashewasthatlessons
instylecouldonlycomefromapassionatestudyofclassicliterature.His
thoughtsonthenecessarilyartificialqualityoftranslatedlanguageandthe
difficultbalancethetranslatormuststrikebetweentheneedsoftheoriginaltext
andthoseofthetargetlanguage,togetherwithhisconceptofimitation,continue
toarouseinteresteventoday.Hestressedtheimportanceoftheaesthetic
qualityoftranslations,insistingthattheworkofapoetcanbetranslatedonlyby
anotherpoet.Themaintaskofanygoodtranslationwasto‘addbeauty’and
improvetheexpressivepowersofthetargetlanguage.Therewasan
unprecedentedincreaseintranslationfromEnglishinnineteenthcenturyItaly.
AlthoughduringthepreviouscenturyItalyhadshownsomeinterestin
anglophoneworks,thestudyandtranslationofthoseworkshadbeen
undertakenbyisolatedpractitionersorfamousmenofletters,someofwhom
workedattheEnglishcourt.ThemostimportantnamesincludedMagalotti,
Rolli,BarettiandPapi.ThefirsttranslationofShakespeare,datingfrom1756,
wascarriedoutbyDomenicoValentini,professorofEcclesiasticalHistoryat
theUniversityofSiena.Itwasnotuntilthefollowingcentury,however,that
theseoccasionalattemptsbyahandfulofmenofletterswerereplacedby
widespreadinterestintheanglophoneworld.
ThepoemsofOssianwerehugelysuccessfulinItaly,aswerethoseofByron.
GiulioCarcano(1812–84),poetandpatriot,wasthefirstandperhapsthe
greatesttranslatorofShakespeareinhiscentury(Duranti1979).
TheearlyandsuccessfultranslationsbyDomenicoCetti(1780–1812)ofsome
ofNikolaiKaramzin’spoetryandprose,togetherwiththeSaggiodipoesie
russecondueoditedescaeinglese(1816)bytheGenoesenobleman
GirolamoOrti(1769–1845)signalledthestartofdirecttranslationfrom
Russian,withoutFrenchasamediatinglanguage.Formorethanhalfacentury,
however,thesepioneersweretheonlyonesworkinginthisarea.While
translationsfromFrenchcontinuedthroughoutthenineteenthcenturyverymuch
asbefore,therewasconsiderablylesstranslationfromeitherGermanor
Spanish.Nonetheless,a507pagevolumeoftheParnasoStranieroof1848
dealswithtranslationfromSpanish.
Threegreattranslationsofthetimedeserveaspecialmention:Ippolito
Pindemonte’stranslationofTheOdyssey(1805–12),VincenzoMonti’s
translationofTheIliad(completedin1811),andUgoFoscolo’stranslationof
Laurence