• Novel Dialogue 4.6 Translation is the closest way to read: Ann Goldstein and Saskia Ziolkowski (AV)

    Author(s):
    Ann Goldstein, Aarthi Vadde, Saskia Ziolkowski
    Date:
    2022
    Subject(s):
    Literature, Criticism, Translations
    Item Type:
    Podcast
    Permanent URL:
    https://doi.org/10.17613/3se4-ga51
    Abstract:
    In our season finale, Ann Goldstein, renowned translator of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels, gives a master class in the art and business of translation. Ann speaks to Duke scholar Saskia Ziolkowski and host Aarthi Vadde about being the face of the Ferrante novels, and the curious void that she came to fill in the public imagination in light of Ferrante’s anonymity. In a profession long characterized by invisibility, Ann reflects on her own celebrity and the changing orthodoxies of the book business. Where once having a translator’s name on a book cover would be sure to kill interest, now there are movements to display author’s and translator’s names together. Ann reads an excerpt in Italian from Primo Levi’s The Truce, followed by her re-translation of the autobiographical story for The Complete Works of Primo Levi. She then offers an extraordinary walk through of her decision-making process by honing in on the difficulty of translating one key word “scomposti.” Listening to Ann delineate and discard choices, we are reminded of Italo Calvino’s assertion (echoed by Ann) that translation is indeed the closest way to read. This season’s signature question on “untranslatables” yields another brilliant meditation on word choice and the paradoxical task of arriving at precise approximations. Plus, Ann and Saskia reveal some of their favorite Italian women writers, several of whom Ann has brought into English for the first time.
    Metadata:
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    Published as:
    Podcast     Show details
    Pub. URL:
    https://noveldialogue.org/2022/11/17/4-6-translation-is-the-closest-way-to-read-ann-goldstein-and-saskia-ziolkowski-av/
    Publisher:
    Society for Novel Studies
    Pub. Date:
    11/17/2022
    Episode:
    4.6
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    3 months ago
    License:
    Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
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