No Cover Image

Journal article 712 views 150 downloads

A Problem of Middlebrow Style: Dialect and Translation in Elena Ferrante’s Naples Tetralogy

Richard Robinson Orcid Logo

Textual Practice, Volume: 36, Issue: 4, Pages: 582 - 604

Swansea University Author: Richard Robinson Orcid Logo

  • 59154.pdf

    PDF | Version of Record

    © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.

    Download (1.79MB)

Check full text

DOI (Published version): 10.1080/0950236x.2022.2030514

Abstract

In what ways does the Bakhtinian model of novelistic discourse, in which dialects are conceived as styles and styles as dialects, apply in the age of world literature and world English? If the style of the contemporary world-novel is purposely drained of its heteroglossia, it risks complicity with a...

Full description

Published in: Textual Practice
ISSN: 0950-236X 1470-1308
Published: Informa UK Limited 2022
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa59154
first_indexed 2022-01-11T17:16:05Z
last_indexed 2022-04-20T03:29:17Z
id cronfa59154
recordtype SURis
fullrecord <?xml version="1.0"?><rfc1807><datestamp>2022-04-19T15:10:55.6331667</datestamp><bib-version>v2</bib-version><id>59154</id><entry>2022-01-11</entry><title>A Problem of Middlebrow Style: Dialect and Translation in Elena Ferrante&#x2019;s Naples Tetralogy</title><swanseaauthors><author><sid>dd0360f678f81621c96a94dae0e1c2b3</sid><ORCID>0000-0003-2097-1931</ORCID><firstname>Richard</firstname><surname>Robinson</surname><name>Richard Robinson</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author></swanseaauthors><date>2022-01-11</date><deptcode>CACS</deptcode><abstract>In what ways does the Bakhtinian model of novelistic discourse, in which dialects are conceived as styles and styles as dialects, apply in the age of world literature and world English? If the style of the contemporary world-novel is purposely drained of its heteroglossia, it risks complicity with a frictionless communicability. This essay argues that the near-complete absence of napoletano in Elena Ferrante&#x2019;s Neapolitan novels, despite its magmatically latent energy, emphasises a refusal both to utter and be uttered by dialectal delinquency. The narrator says after Bakhtin &#x2018;&#x201C;I am me&#x201D; in someone else&#x2019;s language, and in [her] own language, &#x201C;I am other&#x201D;&#x2019;, but without any relish in dialogism. Canonical writers such as Verga, Svevo, Pasolini and Ginzburg also respond to the extraordinary rapidity with which dialects were largely subsumed by spoken as well as written Italian. Yet Ferrante prompts new questions about how the global cultures of reception are gendered. She resists the narcissistically masculinist performance of a named style, implicitly and pseudonymously writing for the majority female readership. Ferrante embraces the gendered sensibility of the primarily female &#x2018;middlebrow&#x2019;, a category now conceived without stigma as immersive, pleasure-giving, cognitively complex and generically transgressive. Under such conditions, the questione linguistica is repeatedly confronted in narrative: its evasion in language marks both the constraints and possibilities of pan-feminist translatability in the &#x2018;world lit&#x2019; economy.</abstract><type>Journal Article</type><journal>Textual Practice</journal><volume>36</volume><journalNumber>4</journalNumber><paginationStart>582</paginationStart><paginationEnd>604</paginationEnd><publisher>Informa UK Limited</publisher><placeOfPublication/><isbnPrint/><isbnElectronic/><issnPrint>0950-236X</issnPrint><issnElectronic>1470-1308</issnElectronic><keywords>dialect; middlebrow; style; translation; Ferrante; world literature</keywords><publishedDay>3</publishedDay><publishedMonth>4</publishedMonth><publishedYear>2022</publishedYear><publishedDate>2022-04-03</publishedDate><doi>10.1080/0950236x.2022.2030514</doi><url/><notes/><college>COLLEGE NANME</college><department>Culture and Communications School</department><CollegeCode>COLLEGE CODE</CollegeCode><DepartmentCode>CACS</DepartmentCode><institution>Swansea University</institution><apcterm>SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal)</apcterm><lastEdited>2022-04-19T15:10:55.6331667</lastEdited><Created>2022-01-11T17:13:05.5446394</Created><path><level id="1">Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences</level><level id="2">School of Culture and Communication - English Literature, Creative Writing</level></path><authors><author><firstname>Richard</firstname><surname>Robinson</surname><orcid>0000-0003-2097-1931</orcid><order>1</order></author></authors><documents><document><filename>59154__23885__807d9afaca934ca1aad405bcee80c323.pdf</filename><originalFilename>59154.pdf</originalFilename><uploaded>2022-04-19T15:09:42.9346719</uploaded><type>Output</type><contentLength>1871964</contentLength><contentType>application/pdf</contentType><version>Version of Record</version><cronfaStatus>true</cronfaStatus><documentNotes>&#xA9; 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor &amp; Francis Group This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.</documentNotes><copyrightCorrect>true</copyrightCorrect><language>eng</language><licence>http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/</licence></document></documents><OutputDurs/></rfc1807>
spelling 2022-04-19T15:10:55.6331667 v2 59154 2022-01-11 A Problem of Middlebrow Style: Dialect and Translation in Elena Ferrante’s Naples Tetralogy dd0360f678f81621c96a94dae0e1c2b3 0000-0003-2097-1931 Richard Robinson Richard Robinson true false 2022-01-11 CACS In what ways does the Bakhtinian model of novelistic discourse, in which dialects are conceived as styles and styles as dialects, apply in the age of world literature and world English? If the style of the contemporary world-novel is purposely drained of its heteroglossia, it risks complicity with a frictionless communicability. This essay argues that the near-complete absence of napoletano in Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels, despite its magmatically latent energy, emphasises a refusal both to utter and be uttered by dialectal delinquency. The narrator says after Bakhtin ‘“I am me” in someone else’s language, and in [her] own language, “I am other”’, but without any relish in dialogism. Canonical writers such as Verga, Svevo, Pasolini and Ginzburg also respond to the extraordinary rapidity with which dialects were largely subsumed by spoken as well as written Italian. Yet Ferrante prompts new questions about how the global cultures of reception are gendered. She resists the narcissistically masculinist performance of a named style, implicitly and pseudonymously writing for the majority female readership. Ferrante embraces the gendered sensibility of the primarily female ‘middlebrow’, a category now conceived without stigma as immersive, pleasure-giving, cognitively complex and generically transgressive. Under such conditions, the questione linguistica is repeatedly confronted in narrative: its evasion in language marks both the constraints and possibilities of pan-feminist translatability in the ‘world lit’ economy. Journal Article Textual Practice 36 4 582 604 Informa UK Limited 0950-236X 1470-1308 dialect; middlebrow; style; translation; Ferrante; world literature 3 4 2022 2022-04-03 10.1080/0950236x.2022.2030514 COLLEGE NANME Culture and Communications School COLLEGE CODE CACS Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) 2022-04-19T15:10:55.6331667 2022-01-11T17:13:05.5446394 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Culture and Communication - English Literature, Creative Writing Richard Robinson 0000-0003-2097-1931 1 59154__23885__807d9afaca934ca1aad405bcee80c323.pdf 59154.pdf 2022-04-19T15:09:42.9346719 Output 1871964 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
title A Problem of Middlebrow Style: Dialect and Translation in Elena Ferrante’s Naples Tetralogy
spellingShingle A Problem of Middlebrow Style: Dialect and Translation in Elena Ferrante’s Naples Tetralogy
Richard Robinson
title_short A Problem of Middlebrow Style: Dialect and Translation in Elena Ferrante’s Naples Tetralogy
title_full A Problem of Middlebrow Style: Dialect and Translation in Elena Ferrante’s Naples Tetralogy
title_fullStr A Problem of Middlebrow Style: Dialect and Translation in Elena Ferrante’s Naples Tetralogy
title_full_unstemmed A Problem of Middlebrow Style: Dialect and Translation in Elena Ferrante’s Naples Tetralogy
title_sort A Problem of Middlebrow Style: Dialect and Translation in Elena Ferrante’s Naples Tetralogy
author_id_str_mv dd0360f678f81621c96a94dae0e1c2b3
author_id_fullname_str_mv dd0360f678f81621c96a94dae0e1c2b3_***_Richard Robinson
author Richard Robinson
author2 Richard Robinson
format Journal article
container_title Textual Practice
container_volume 36
container_issue 4
container_start_page 582
publishDate 2022
institution Swansea University
issn 0950-236X
1470-1308
doi_str_mv 10.1080/0950236x.2022.2030514
publisher Informa UK Limited
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Culture and Communication - English Literature, Creative Writing{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Culture and Communication - English Literature, Creative Writing
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description In what ways does the Bakhtinian model of novelistic discourse, in which dialects are conceived as styles and styles as dialects, apply in the age of world literature and world English? If the style of the contemporary world-novel is purposely drained of its heteroglossia, it risks complicity with a frictionless communicability. This essay argues that the near-complete absence of napoletano in Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels, despite its magmatically latent energy, emphasises a refusal both to utter and be uttered by dialectal delinquency. The narrator says after Bakhtin ‘“I am me” in someone else’s language, and in [her] own language, “I am other”’, but without any relish in dialogism. Canonical writers such as Verga, Svevo, Pasolini and Ginzburg also respond to the extraordinary rapidity with which dialects were largely subsumed by spoken as well as written Italian. Yet Ferrante prompts new questions about how the global cultures of reception are gendered. She resists the narcissistically masculinist performance of a named style, implicitly and pseudonymously writing for the majority female readership. Ferrante embraces the gendered sensibility of the primarily female ‘middlebrow’, a category now conceived without stigma as immersive, pleasure-giving, cognitively complex and generically transgressive. Under such conditions, the questione linguistica is repeatedly confronted in narrative: its evasion in language marks both the constraints and possibilities of pan-feminist translatability in the ‘world lit’ economy.
published_date 2022-04-03T07:56:54Z
_version_ 1828907189908013056
score 11.056959

Similar Items