Scrutinizing History, Translating Experience: Diario di una Maestrina, a Narrative of Action

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, Manhattan College, New York, USA

Abstract

This article analyzes the role of translation as a tool to prompt historical research, reflection, and comparison in society. To explain the traits of translation as an act to interpret social issues across time and space, I use my translation of Maria Giacobbe’s Diario di una Maestrina [Diary of a School Teacher]. Because it has never been translated into English before, the size and scope of the audience for her work have been limited. By presenting examples of close translation and close reading of the text, this contribution aims to present the translated text as a unique lens through which to view the author’s as an educator and an activist to economically disadvantaged students in post-Fascist Italy and for a contemporary reader to relate to her challenges and experiences. In so doing, the translation of Giacobbe's autobiography invites readers to question the role of education and teachers in their own country and can contribute to expanding the role of translation in history and female authors' creation of interlocutory spaces for a first-person narrative of action.

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References

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