The following schedule is indicative of the content of the course.
An updated syllabus will be given to the students on the first day of class
First Week:
‘From Rome with
Love’: Foreign views on the Eternal City
In the first week of the course we will explore and translate the
interpretation of Rome as seen from a foreign point of view. The students will
come face to face through the translating activities proposed with their own
knowledge, perceptions, and preconceptions of the Italian language and culture
in an international context. We will explore current and predominant ideas of
Italian language and culture in preparation for the weeks that follow where we
will seek to get closer to a deeper understanding of the ‘art of
translating’ texts that have Rome as their protagonist.
The students will translate sections of screenplays from films, for
example, To Rome With Love (Woody
Allen), Eat Pray Love (Ryan Murphy)
and parts of the book Un romano per
amico, written by Luca Spaghetti (Rizzoli). In the first week, the students
will meet author Luca Spaghetti, who, in his book, describes his encounter in
Rome with Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat
Pray Love), and how he became a character of her bestseller. The students
will also translate parts of In altre
parole (In Other Words) by Jhumpa
Lahiri (Mondadori), where the Indian American writer chronicles her choice to
write in Italian after a period spent in Rome.
Second Week
‘La dolce vita’:
fascination and corruption of a city
The theme of the second week will focus on Rome’s grandeur, where the
city’s glorious past collides with the contradictions of contemporary life. The
main text this week will be a section of Gabriele D’Annunzio’s Rome based
novel, Il Piacere. The
students will be invited to compare and criticize the novel with the Child of Pleasure, the title of the
first English translation of the novel, which was made from a French
translation and not from the original novel in Italian. During this
week, we will also work together to translate and roleplay sections of
screenplays from films, for example, La
dolce vita (Federico Fellini) and Fantasmi
a Roma (Antonio Pietrangeli).
If time permits, we will also work on the comic monologue by Achille
Campanile entitled La quercia del Tasso,
which will challenge the students translating skills (and imagination) with an
attempt to translate his irony.
The contradiction of Rome, where poverty and garbage seems to be
continuously increasing, will be discussed with Giuseppe Marino, journalist of
national newspaper Il Giornale. The
students will translate Marino’s article about Rome and will talk with him
about their experience of the so called Eternal City.
Third Week
“Stupenda e misera
città”: the periphery of Pier Paolo Pasolini
The title for this week originates from the poem Il pianto della scavatrice (The Tears of the Excavator) by Pier Paolo
Pasolini and throughout the encounters in week three we will dedicate ourselves
to Pier Paolo Pasolini and his relationship with Rome. The students will
translate a selection of Pasolini’ work; for example, the aforementioned poem
and parts of the screenplay of Pasolini’ films Accattone and Mamma Roma.
The Roman’s contradictions, their cynicism and generosity will further be
explored by translating an extract of Alberto Moravia’s Racconti romani (Roman Tales).
As guest this week, Roman poet, Maria Grazia Calandrone will be joining us and
whose work we will also explore.
Fourth Week
Has Rome Lasted Too
Long? Young Generations in Comparison
Andy Warhol once said; “Rome, Italy, is an example of what happens when
the buildings in a city last too long”. Though resistant to change, young
generations living here today are protagonists of a gradual opening up to
modernization and multiculturalism. This week we will work on a selection of Maurizio Cotrona’s recently published
Rome based novel Malafede, and have
the opportunity to meet the author who will discuss their translations. During
this week, the students will also encounter the difficulty of translating slang
with which we will be working on parts of Pier Vittorio Tondelli’s novel Pao Pao.
The movies this week will be, for example, Un Americano a Roma (Staino) and Caro diario (Nanni Moretti).
Fifth Week
“La grande bellezza”: many Romes in everyday life
Living in Rome today: the desolation, the contradictions, the disorder
encountered in everyday life, and yet Rome is still able to inspire fascination
and spirituality. The students will confront this paradox by translating verses
from ROMA by award winning poet
Franco Buffoni. The Roman poet is also a published translator of the works of
Shelly, Byron and Dickinson to name a few. The poet will be joining us this
week to discuss with the students their poetic choices.
In addition, this week, a section of Roma
senza papa, by Guido Morselli, will represent the occasion to talk about
Rome’s religiosity and sense of the sacred of a city centre of Christianity.
The film to conclude the week will be the Oscar award winning La grande bellezza, by Paolo Sorrentino.
The course will conclude with a final presentation of the student's
portfolio of translations and notes compiled during the course.