D' Annunzio as world literature: translation and reception (Glasgow, UK))

We invite proposals for a panel at the Modern Language Colloquium in Glasgow (UK), which will be held on 17-19 June 2021, on the theme

D’Annunzio as World Literature: Translation and Reception in the Wake of Decadence

As recent studies have demonstrated, translation was crucial for the development of the Decadent movement, which originated in France but soon found disciples across and beyond Europe. Among these was Gabriele d’Annunzio, a poet, modernist experimenter and political agitator whose larger-than-life persona dominated the national cultural scene for many years. D’Annunzio’s work spanned genres and media, participating in a rich context of poetry, literature, theatre, and film. He was one of the few fin-de-siècle Italian authors to receive global attention, and remains an “uncomfortable” presence in today’s Italian canon. This panel sets out to examine D’Annunzio’s work within a world literature framework, from his own engagement with translation to the international circulation and reception of his work.

      Contributions are welcome (but not limited to) the following topics:

 Translation within D’Annunzio’s texts, including:

— Multilingualism in D’Annunzio’s texts

Translingual writing (e.g. D’Annunzio’s writing in French)

Self Translation

Rewriting and plagiarism

— D’Annunzio’s theorizing on translation

Gender and translation (including gender as a productive category of translation)

Immediate reception, including:

Fin-de-siècle translations of D’Annunzio

D’Annunzio’s translators, their habitus, translating strategies and relationship to the Decadent movement

D’Annunzio’s relationship to translators, editors and other literary agents  

— Censorship and political contexts of reception

D’Annunzio’s impact on modern/modernist writers across Europe and the world

Multimedia contexts and responses

The afterlife of D’Annunzio’s text, including:

D’Annunzio’s place in Italian and foreign canons (i.e. school and university syllabi)

Recent and contemporary translations or adaptations of D’Annunzio

D’Annunzio’s impact on contemporary texts (i.e. citations; D’Annunzio as a character)

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Abstracts (250 words) and short bios should be submitted to Elisa Segnini (elisa.segnini@glasgow.ac.uk) and Michael Subialka (msubialka@ucdavis.edu) by August 15th, 2020. We welcome any questions about possible proposals and topics. More information about the MLA colloquium can be found at:

https://symposium.mla.org/