Between the Poets and Scholars: Reflections on Translating Dante
The Italians have a saying traduttore, traditore – that is, the “translator” of a text can become a “traitor” to it by failing to capture both its literal meaning and its deeper spirit. Reflecting on this challenge, Joseph Luzzi will discuss his new translation of Dante’s Vita Nuova (New Life), Dante’s first book and a moving account of both his youthful love for his muse, Beatrice, and his discovery of his poetic vocation. Luzzi will also consider his ongoing work on translating Dante’s epic, La Divina Commedia (The Divine Comedy), focusing on the tension between maintaining scholarly fidelity to the original and the need to convey the poem’s poetic brilliance to modern readers. Throughout, he will share how his personal understanding and interpretation of Dante’s work inform his translations of these literary masterpieces by Italy’s so-called sommo poeta, supreme poet.