Italian-Canadian Narratives of Return

This book examines the concept of translation as a return to origins and as restitution of lost narratives, and is based on the idea of diaspora as a term that depicts the longing to return home and the imaginary reconstructions and reconstitutions of home by migrants and translators. The author analyses a corpus made up of novels and a memoir by Italian-Canadian writers Mary Melfi, Nino Ricci and Frank Paci, examining the theme of return both within the writing itself and also in the discourse surrounding the translations of these works into Italian. These ‘reconstructions’ are analysed through the lens of translation, and more specifically through the notion of written code-switching, understood here as fictional tool which symbolizes the translational movements between different points of view. This book will be of particular interest to students and scholars of translation and interpreting, migration studies, and Italian and diasporic writing. 

Michela Baldo is Honorary Fellow in Translation Studies in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures at the University of Hull, UK.

“Baldo’s latest volume is a welcome addition to the field of Italian-Canadian studies, a work that will certainly interest scholars in the area, as well as anyone interested in cultural translation or working with hyphenated literatures around the world.” (Tiziana Nannavecchia, Italian Canadiana, Vol. 33, 2019)