Writing under cover: Cristina Campo as translator of John Donne

Maria Panarello

Writing under cover: Cristina Campo as translator of John Donne

Maria Panarello

Abstract

The study of Cristina Campo’s translations offers a precious contribution to those of us who are attempting to investigate the unknown area that lies in the shadowy zone between the source text and its translation. Vittoria Guerrini, a rather solitary and reticent figure in 20th-century Italian literature, wrote under several pen names, of which her favourite was Cristina Campo, the masque she chose for her beautiful and intense translations of a small but significant collection of poems by John Donne. This paper aims at exploring Cristina Campo’s attitude towards translation and the unique relationship she established with the poets she translated. John Donne’s translations reflect a singular solidarity displaying points of affinity between two extremely complex personalities. The dialogic rapport abolishes difference in space and time, as well as difference in language, as author and translator testify the same supreme tension towards beauty, truth and perfection. Translation in this perspective is a sacred gesture of mediation.

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Linguæ & - Rivista di lingue e culture moderne
Registered by Tribunale di Milano (06/04/2012 n. 185)
Online ISSN 1724-8698 - Print ISSN 2281-8952

Dipartimento di Scienze della Comunicazione, Studi Umanistici e Internazionali: Storia, Culture, Lingue, Letterature, Arti, Media
Università degli Studi di Urbino Carlo Bo

Editor-in-Chief: Roberta Mullini
Editorial Board: Maurizio Ascari - Stefano Beretta - Antonio Bertacca- Tania Collani - Chiara Elefante - Marina Guglielmi - Maryline Heck - Richard Hillman - Reinhard Johler - Stephen Knight - Cesare Mascitelli - Sonia Massai - Aurélie Moioli - Maria de Fátima Silva - Bart Van Den Bossche

Editorial Staff: Margaret Amatulli - Alessandra Calanchi - Riccardo Donati - Ivo Klaver - Massimiliano Morini - Antonella Negri - Luca Renzi

Referee List