The chapter examines the reasons why the works of Jane Austen, for all their popularity, cannot be considered to be among the most admired foreign classics in Italy. This limited interest is due to numerous reasons, and the overall effect is the persistence of an image of the author as ‘a great anomaly of literature’, owing to the great gulf between her high place in the literary Olympus on one hand, and the modest biographical and intellectual experience attributed to her in Italian prefaces and introductions, on the other. The essay considers how the conventional unattractive image of Austen was formed and consolidated, and how the recent revaluation of the novelist can be attributed substantially to the development of one critical approach which was present in Italy at the beginning of the twentieth century, but remained long in the shadows before revealing itself as the most suitable means available of convincingly explaining Austen’s significance. The first section is devoted to what could be defined as the ‘romance of the reception’ of Jane Austen between two conflicting interpretations, associated with the names of two key critics: Mario Praz and Emilio Cecchi. The second section discusses more recent Italian commentary on Austen and the role played by the teaching of Carlo Izzo and the CISR (Centro Interdisciplinare di Studi Romantici) at the University of Bologna in promoting the Austen studies in Italy. The final section considers the problems connected with the translation of Austen’s text, including a survey of the main and most widely circulating translations.
The Reception of Jane Austen in Italy
BATTAGLIA, MARIA BEATRICE
2007
Abstract
The chapter examines the reasons why the works of Jane Austen, for all their popularity, cannot be considered to be among the most admired foreign classics in Italy. This limited interest is due to numerous reasons, and the overall effect is the persistence of an image of the author as ‘a great anomaly of literature’, owing to the great gulf between her high place in the literary Olympus on one hand, and the modest biographical and intellectual experience attributed to her in Italian prefaces and introductions, on the other. The essay considers how the conventional unattractive image of Austen was formed and consolidated, and how the recent revaluation of the novelist can be attributed substantially to the development of one critical approach which was present in Italy at the beginning of the twentieth century, but remained long in the shadows before revealing itself as the most suitable means available of convincingly explaining Austen’s significance. The first section is devoted to what could be defined as the ‘romance of the reception’ of Jane Austen between two conflicting interpretations, associated with the names of two key critics: Mario Praz and Emilio Cecchi. The second section discusses more recent Italian commentary on Austen and the role played by the teaching of Carlo Izzo and the CISR (Centro Interdisciplinare di Studi Romantici) at the University of Bologna in promoting the Austen studies in Italy. The final section considers the problems connected with the translation of Austen’s text, including a survey of the main and most widely circulating translations.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
