Alice’s Adventures in the Italian Land: Translating Children’s Literature in Italy across a Century (1872-1988) A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities 2017 Chiara G. M. Berrani School of Arts, Languages and Cultures LIST OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT.....................................................................................................6 DECLARATION.............................................................................................................7 COPYRIGHT STATEMENT........................................................................................8 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...................................................................................9 INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................10 1. Thesis Outline ...........................................................................................................16 CHAPTER ONE. The academic interest in children’s literature in translation.......................................................................................................................18 1.1. Early academic interest............................................................................................18 1.2. The function and cultural context of children’s literature in translation..................19 1.3. The ‘cultural turn’ and the interdisciplinary approaches..........................................21 1.4. Comparative children’s literature.............................................................................23 CHAPTER TWO. Theoretical approaches to children’s literature and its translation.......................................................................................................................25 2.1. What is children’s literature.....................................................................................25 2.1.1. What makes a book, a book for children.........................................................26 2.1.2. The ambivalence of books for children...........................................................29 2.1.3. Dual readership and child image.....................................................................32 2.2. The functions of books for children.........................................................................34 2.2.1. Entertainment..................................................................................................34 2.2.2. Education.........................................................................................................36 2.2.3. Textual adaptation in children’s literature.......................................................39 2.3. Narrative theory and children’s literature.................................................................41 2.4. The role of translators of books for children............................................................48 2.4.1. The challenges of translating for children.......................................................50 2.5. Interdisciplinary approaches to the study of children’s literature............................53 2 2.5.1. Comparative children’s literature and proper names.......................................56 2.5.2. Retranslation theory and the evolution of translations....................................61 CHAPTER THREE. The creation of the study and the analysis of the texts.................................................................................................................................66 3.1. Methodology.............................................................................................................66 3.1.1. The synchronic investigation...........................................................................67 3.1.2. The diachronic investigation............................................................................68 3.2. The selection of the texts..........................................................................................69 3.3. The context of the translations..................................................................................72 3.3.1. Le avventure d’Alice nel paese delle meraviglie - Teodorico Pietrocòla Rossetti (1872)...........................................................................................................74 3.3.2. Nel paese delle meraviglie – Emma C. Cagli (1908)......................................77 3.3.3. Alice nel paese delle meraviglie – Mario Benzi (1935)..................................84 3.3.4. Alice nel paese delle meraviglie – Giusto Vittorini and Tommaso Giglio (1950).............................................................................................................88 3.3.5. Le avventure di Alice nel paese delle meraviglie – Masolino d’Amico (1971).........................................................................................................................94 3.3.6. Alice nel paese delle meraviglie – Aldo Busi (1988)....................................100 CHAPTER FOUR. The synchronic investigation: Alice’s adventures in the Italian land................................................................................................................................108 4.1. Close reading and the analytical framework..........................................................108 4.1.1. Nursery rhymes and intertextual references..................................................109 4.1.2. Wordplay.......................................................................................................111 4.1.3. Proper names.................................................................................................112 4.1.4. Historical figures and cultural references......................................................113 4.1.5. Alice’s identity...............................................................................................116 4.1.6. Omissions, changes and other textual alterations....................................117 4.2. Le avventure d’Alice nel paese delle meraviglie – Teodorico Pietrocòla Rossetti (1872).............................................................................................................................118 4.2.1. Nursery rhymes and intertextual references..................................................118 4.2.2. Wordplay.......................................................................................................121 3 4.2.3. Proper and common names............................................................................125 4.2.4. Historical figures and cultural references......................................................128 4.2.5. Alice’s identity...............................................................................................130 4.2.6. Changes and omissions..................................................................................132 4.2.7. Observations..................................................................................................134 4.3. Nel paese delle meraviglie – Emma C. Cagli (1908)....................................134 4.3.1. Nursery rhymes and intertextual references..................................................135 4.3.2. Wordplay.......................................................................................................136 4.3.3. Proper and common names............................................................................140 4.3.4. Historical figures and cultural references......................................................144 4.3.5. Alice’s identity...............................................................................................146 4.3.6. Changes and omissions..................................................................................147 4.3.7. Observations..................................................................................................148 4.4. Alice nel paese delle meraviglie – Mario Benzi (1935)................................149 4.4.1. Nursery rhymes and intertextual references..................................................151 4.4.2. Wordplay ......................................................................................................152 4.4.3. Proper and common names............................................................................156 4.4.4. Historical figures and cultural references......................................................159 4.4.5. Alice’s identity...............................................................................................161 4.4.6. Changes and omissions..................................................................................162 4.4.7. Observations..................................................................................................164 4.5. Alice nel paese delle meraviglie – Giusto Vittorini and Tommaso Giglio (1950).............................................................................................................................165 4.5.1. Nursery rhymes and intertextual references..................................................166 4.5.2. Wordplay.....................................................................................................167 4.5.3. Proper and common names............................................................................171 4.5.4. Historical figures and cultural references......................................................174 4.5.5. Alice’s identity...............................................................................................175