Voices of Women Writers: Using Language to Negotiate Identity in (Trans)migratory Contexts

by Elena Anna Spagnuolo

Overview

This book investigates the phenomenon of self-translation within the context of mobility, through the analysis of a corpus of narratives written by authors who were born in Italy and then moved to English-speaking countries. Emphasizing writing and self-translating as practices,, which exists in conjunction with a process of redefinition of identity, the book illustrates how these authors use language to negotiate and voice their identity in (trans)migratory contexts. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781839987991
Publisher:	Anthem Press
Publication date:	10/10/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	164
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Elena Anna Spagnuolo received her PhD in Italian Studies from the University of Manchester. She works as an Italian language instructor at Aberystwyth University, and as Research Fellow at the Centre for the Movement of People.

Table of Contents

Introduction; 1. Revoicing Female Migrant Identities through Creative Multilingualism; 2. Gianna Patriarca: Self-Translating as a Strategy of Re-grounding; 3. DôreMichelut: Coming to Terms with the Mother Tongue;4. Licia Canton: Rewriting the Italian Mother (Tongue, Land)’s ;5. Francesca Duranti: ‘Trans-Writing’ the Self through Acts of Narration and Acts of Living ; Conclusion; References

Editorial Reviews

In this elegantly written book, Elena Spagnuolo looks at the voices of four female writers. She questions how their multilingual identities are made even more complex by the act of self-translation, thereby highlighting new, probing analytical lenses to explore and make sense of the power translations hold in shaping our worldviews.” —Francesca Billiani, Professorof Italian, University of Manchester, UK.

“An engaging book on the practice of self-translation as part of the process of creative writing among immigrant women authors who negotiate different identities, languages and cultures. Do we abandon the old country but keep the mother tongue? The detailed arguments here are accessible for both scholars and students.” —Joseph Pivato, Ph.D., Professor of Comparative Literature, Athabasca University, Canada.

“A timely and compelling publication exploring the relationship between language, identityand ethnicity through the migrant narratives of four Italian-born authors who moved toEnglish-speaking countries: Gianna Patriarca, DôreMichelut, Licia Canton and Francesca Duranti. Drawing a parallel between ‘mother and mother (tongue, land)’, the author offers a gendered perspective on the works of these transmigrant writers, whose ‘specific and identitarian discourse’ opens up new possibilities for a transmigrant existence.” —Lucia Aiello, Senior Lecturer, Department of Language and Linguistic Science, University of York, UK.

From the Publisher