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Baretti polemista e traduttore in A Dissertation upon the Italian Poetry

  • Omar Khalaf

This brief essay attempts to shed light on some hitherto unnoticed aspects of Baretti’s approach to translation. A close analysis of his Dissertation upon the Italian Poetry, in fact, reveals that behind the Italian philosopher’s fierce reaction against Voltaire’s Essay on the Epic Poetry of All the European Nations from Homer down to Milton lies a profound analysis of the language and its evocative function. Baretti’s English translations of Italian masters such as Dante, as poor as they seem, become the most obvious demonstration of the unsurpassed beauty and force of the Italian poetic language, whose sounds are so potent and suggestive to hamper any translation effort. Therefore, without relinquishing his typically polemical vein, Baretti anticipates some of the most contemporary approaches towards translation, revealing, also in this aspect, his outstanding intellectual stature.

  • Keywords:
  • A Dissertation upon the Italian Poetry,
  • England,
  • Voltaire,
  • poetry,
  • language,
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Omar Khalaf

University of Padua, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0001-6605-2354

  1. Antiseri, D., Reale, G. 2008. Storia della Filosofia 6. Illuminismo e Kant, Milano: Bompiani.
  2. Baretti, G. 1753. A Dissertation upon the Italian Poetry, in Which Are Interspersed Some Remarks on Mr. Voltaire’s Essay on the Epic Poets. London: R. Dodsley, at Tully’s Head in Pall-Mall (ESTC T83931). Disponibile su https://books.google.it/books?id=WRVcAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&hl=it&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false (2024-06-20).
  3. Baretti, G. 1936. Epistolario, a cura di L. Piccioni, vol. I. Bari: Laterza.
  4. Binni, W. 2016. “Il ‘grave stil nuovo’ del Pindemonte.” In Scritti settecenteschi, a cura di W. Binni, 225. Firenze: Il Ponte.
  5. Boswell, J. 1986. Life of Johnson. Unabridged, a cura di R. W. Chapman (seconda edizione). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  6. Condillac, E.B. 1757. Traité des sensations, t. I. Londres: Saint Paul.
  7. De Saussure, F. 2021. Corso di linguistica generale, introduzione, traduzione e commento di T. de Mauro. Roma: Laterza.
  8. Piccioni, L. 1899. Studi e ricerche intorno a Giuseppe Baretti. Con lettere e documenti inediti. Livorno: Faello Giusti.
  9. Toury, G. 1995. “The Nature and Role of Norms in Translation.” In Descriptive Translation Studies and Beyond, ed. by G. Toury, 53-69. Amsterdam-Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
  10. White, F. D. 1915. Voltaire’s Essay on Epic Poetry; a Study and an Edition. Albany (NY): Brandow. Disponibile su https://books.google.it/books?id=hzIHAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&hl=it&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false (2024-06-20).
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  • Publication Year: 2024
  • Pages: 141-150
  • Content License: CC BY 4.0
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  • Publication Year: 2024
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Chapter Information

Chapter Title

Baretti polemista e traduttore in A Dissertation upon the Italian Poetry

Authors

Omar Khalaf

Language

Italian

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-0448-4.11

Peer Reviewed

Publication Year

2024

Copyright Information

© 2024 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Bibliographic Information

Book Title

Baretti’s England

Book Subtitle

Figure e momenti del Settecento anglo-italiano

Editors

Elisa Bianco, Alessandra Vicentini

Peer Reviewed

Number of Pages

200

Publication Year

2024

Copyright Information

© 2024 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Publisher Name

Firenze University Press

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-0448-4

ISBN Print

979-12-215-0447-7

eISBN (pdf)

979-12-215-0448-4

eISBN (epub)

979-12-215-0449-1

Series Title

Biblioteca di storia

Series ISSN

2464-9007

Series E-ISSN

2704-5986

11

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