Translating the mysteries of Naples
In discussion about Italian writer Elena Ferrante and her city of choice, topics range from identity to authenticity, Yang Yang reports.
Li Jingjing (left), an associate professor of Italian language and literature at Beijing Foreign Studies, was the hostess and interpreter of a promotion last month, in which Guadagni (middle) and Chen Ying, translator and associate professor of Italian language and literature at Sichuan International Studies University talked about their impression of Naples and their understanding of the identity of Italian writer Ferrante.[Photo by Yang Yang/China Daily]
"That voice is independent to some extent, and represents a special way of looking at the world," she says, "and now the person behind that voice has been revealed, what will happen to it?"
She says that she wrote the book to explore the existence of Ferrante, a question that she has been thinking about since 1995.
To explore Ferrante's existence, she also went to Naples to explore its landscape and cultural environment.
As for who she believes Ferrante is, Guadagni says that readers will have to find out themselves.
The book's translator Chen Ying, an associate professor of Italian language and literature at Sichuan International Studies University, who also translated the four Neapolitan Novels — My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New Name, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, and The Story of the Lost Child — attended as a guest speaker. Li Jingjing, an associate professor of Italian language and literature at Beijing Foreign Studies University, hosted and translated the dialogue.
To understand Ferrante, it is important to know about the southern Italian city of Naples, where Ferrante sets her novels, and which itself is a major character in her novels.
At the start of the event, the three speakers talked about their impressions of the city.
Li says that for her Naples has a special charm that integrates its glorious past, its noisy and chaotic present and even its slightly decadent street style.
