‘The Pasolini Translation Problem’: From Una vita violenta to A Violent Life

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article provides a microhistorical analysis of the English translation of Pier Paolo Pasolini's Una vita violenta, penned by William Weaver and published by British publisher Jonathan Cape in 1968. By evaluating the archival evidence surrounding this ‘translation event’, this study reconstructs the transatlantic alliances that the firm tried to forge with American firms between 1959 and 1968 to spread around the translation costs and ensure greater geographical diffusion. Furthermore, it maps the efforts made to secure the best translator for what was judged to be a linguistically challenging foreign title. The study contextualises the translators’ articulations of how best to interpret in English the mixture of dialect and slang characterising Pasolini’s novel. The analysis of the business and aesthetic discourses surrounding this translation event also takes into account Pier Paolo Pasolini’s evolving discourse on dialect and his position in the national and international cultural fields.