Translations Archives

“Di soglia in soglia” between Dakar and Ravenna Cultural Event in Ravenna, Italy (2021)

April 10, 2022 By Harrison Betz, FSU '25

“The city of Ravenna is dedicating 30 July to the deep cultural bonds established over the years with Senegal, remembering Mandiaye N’Diaye, who initiated these relations. The day is also in honor of Dante: ‘Di soglia in soglia’ (‘From rank to rank’) is a verse from Canto III of Paradise and in the evening Canto I of the Divine Comedy will be read, translated for the first time into Wolof.

“It is at this point that we arrive in Ravenna: the Institute of Dakar contacted the Teatro delle Albe, which has been involved in Senegal for over thirty years following the long-time collaboration with the Senegalese actor and director Mandiaye N’Diaye, who passed away in 2014, proposing the publication, together, of a book that would collect testimonies of the cultural ties between Ravenna and Senegal and the creation of this day on 30 July, dedicated to these relationships and to Mandiaye N’Diaye, all in the name of Dante, in the year of the 700th anniversary of his death.” [. . .] —Italiana, July 30, 2021 (retrieved April 10, 2022)

The event included a round table discussion of Italian-Senegalese relations as well as a presentation on the translation of Canto I into Wolof and the work of Mandiya N’Diaye. Later on, a reading of Canto I in both Italian and Wolof was held at the tomb of Dante in Ravenna. For more information and a full program, visit the event’s website here.

Inferno, Romeo Castellucci (2008)

November 21, 2021 By Sephora Affa, FSU '24

[. . .] “Romeo Castellucci attempts to ‘hurl down The Divine Comedy on the earth of a stage’. He offers the spectator, in three stages and at three venues of the Festival, a crossing, the experience of a Divine Comedy.

“Inferno is a monument of pain. The artist must pay. In a dark wood in which he is immediately plunged, he doubts, he fears, he suffers. But what sin is the artist guilty of? If he is thus lost, it is because he does not know the answer to this question. Alone on the large stage, or on the contrary, walled in by the crowd and confronted with the world’s hubbub, the man that Romeo Castellucci puts on stage fully suffers, bewildered from this experience of loss of self. Everything here aggresses him, the violence of the images, the fall of his own body into matter, the animals and spectres. The visual dynamic of this show possesses the consistency of this stupor, sometimes this dread, that seizes the man when he is reduced to his paltriness, defenceless faced with the elements that overwhelm him. But this fragility is a resource, however, because it is the condition of a paradoxical gentleness. Romeo Castellucci shows each spectator that at the bottom of his own fears there is a secret space, marked by melancholy, in which he hangs on to life, to ‘the incredible nostalgia of his own life.'” [. . .] —Festival D’Avignon, 2008

Watch segments of the show here.

Relatedly, see our post on Romeo Castellucci’s earlier 2002 commendation here.

This theatrical piece will be discussed by scholar Sara Fontana in her contribution to the forthcoming volume Dante Alive.

“From the Dark Wood to Paradise: Dante Alighieri at the University of Nairobi” (2021)

November 7, 2021 By Sephora Affa, FSU '24

“The University of Nairobi’s Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Literature, the Italian Embassy, and the Italian cultural institute collaborated on a conference dubbed ‘From the Dark Wood to Paradise: Dante Alighieri at the University of Nairobi.’

“During the event, excerpts of the audiobook version of From the Dark Wood to Paradise were read to the participants in English, Kiswahili, and Italian; some parts of the Divine Comedy have been translated into 33 languages including Swahili.

“(The event) also included a segment for the collaborators to share their perspectives.

“Speaking at the conference, the Italian Ambassador to Kenya, Ambassador Alberto Pieri noted that some Italian words are used in Kenya and across the globe thus showcasing the undeniable influences of Italian culture to the world.

“‘There is no better partner in terms of culture than Italy because culture goes back to the Greco-Roman period. Aspects of culture and technology like road-building are drawn from that early cultural heritage. As a university, we would like to see this collaboration grow into a full collaboration where we are able to interact in terms of theatre and languages’ (Dean Faculty of Arts, Prof. Ephraim Wahome).

“‘The Italian language has been part of the population of the country of Kenya for a long time. Malindi for example has often been referred to as Little Italy since the late 60s because of its cultural inclination’ (Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Stephen Kiama).

“‘He is part of what came to be known as three crowns of Italian literature. The others are the writer Giovanni Boccaccio well known for his text and Francesco Petrarch the father of the Renaissance movement. Indeed, the works of the three crowns of Italian literature have been known to comprise an entire teaching unit in English and literature departments the world over signaling the importance of the contribution of the Italian language to world literature’ (Alex Wanjala, Dept. of Linguistics, Languages, and Literature).

“Dante Alighieri at University of Nairobi concluded with the screening of the film The Sky over Kibera by Marco Martinelli (Teatro delle Albe).” [. . .] —University of Nairobi, October 27, 2021

See also the related post about The Sky over Kibera here.

Dante Poliglotta Website

November 2, 2021 By Harrison Betz, FSU '25

“Ogni lingua ha una sua musicalità, una sua potenzialità artistica, una sua produzione letteraria. E ogni produzione letteraria, piccola o grande che sia, è potenzialmente capace di moltiplicarsi per il numero enorme delle lingue esistenti.

“Con la Divina Commedia questa moltiplicazione ha raggiunto dimensioni davvero stupefacenti. Il sito Dante Poliglotta, che dispone di un patrimonio di circa duecento edizioni di traduzioni della Divina Commedia in sessanta lingue e dialetti diversi, ha appunto lo scopo di rendere omaggio all’universalità di Dante facendo conoscere questo ricco patrimonio culturale al pubblico della rete. Per il piacere di chi ama la Divina Commedia, per la gioia di chi adora le lingue e i dialetti, e per la consolazione di re Nembrotte di Babele.” [. . .] –Giuliano Turone, Dante Poliglotta, 28 Ottubre, 2012

“Dante in Giappone, da Go Nagai alla Commedia in giapponese: tutti gli eventi”

October 31, 2021 By Harrison Betz, FSU '25

“Per celebrare i 700 anni dalla morte di Dante Alighieri anche Tokyo promuove numerosi eventi culturali.

“In occasione di Dante, Terzine from the World, per esempio, eventi poi da tutto il mondo declameranno versi della Divina Commedia con appuntamenti settimanali a partire da lunedì 29 marzo, seguibili dal sito della Casa della poesia di Como: sarà possibile ascoltare Dante in giapponese con Mariko Sumikura e Taeko Uemura, responsabili della Japanese Universal Poetry Association.

“È poi la stessa Ambasciata d’Italia in Giappone a comunicare, in accordo con gli Istituti Italiani di cultura di Tokyo e Osaka, il Consolato Generale a Osaka ed Enit, di aver messo in calendario, per tutto il 2021, oltre venticinque tra iniziative ed eventi dedicati alla figura di Dante Alighieri.

“‘Per celebrare in Giappone la figura del padre della lingua italiana abbiamo inteso mettere a sistema il meglio della nostra offerta culturale con la fitta rete di scuole, università e media giapponesi, certi di raggiungere il grande pubblico locale’, ha spiegato Giorgio Starace, Ambasciatore d’Italia a Tokyo.” [. . .] —Affari Italiani, March 13, 2021 (retrieved October 27, 2021)

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