| Popis: |
Despite being fairly known in the US, Shirley Jackson’s Italian reception followed a different path. The first Italian translations of some of her most famous works were published many years after their first publication, and contributed to presenting Jackson’s works in Italy as aimed at a generally lowbrow public. Therefore, Monica Pareschi’s 2004 retranslation of The Haunting of Hill House for Adelphi, an élite publisher aimed at a highbrow readership, was all the more surprising. Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” was retranslated in 2007 and included in Adelphi’s booklet La lotteria. Finally, in 2009, Pareschi retranslated We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Up until now, Adelphi has issued nine books of Jackson’s, many of which previously unpublished in Italy. It appears the publisher’s intention is to issue Jackson’s opera omnia, a process of literary repechage which is already contributing to positively re-shaping Jackson’s Italian reception. I argue that Adelphi achieves this purpose mainly by means of paratextual information. To further expand on this claim, I will examine Adelphi’s paratextual presentations of Jackson’s books, a task which will be limited to the retranslated works (The Haunting, The Lottery, and Castle), in order to compare the more recent translations to the previous ones from a paratextual perspective. The study will be structured as follows: to begin with, a working definition of paratext will be provided, followed by a summary of Adelphi’s history and editorial strategy. Within this frame of reference, a paratextual analysis of the older Italian editions of Jackson’s works will be carried out, comparing each book to Adelphi’s corresponding retranslation. Ultimately, I hope my study will explore how paratext is able to shape and influence reception, and might contribute to the canonization of a (re)translated text. |
