Translating Alexis Wright’s Carpentaria

Abstract

In 2008, the literary translator Andrea Sirotti co-translated with Gaetano Luigi Staffilano Alexis Wright’s novel Carpentaria into Italian, less than two years after the publication of the original. The translation introduced Wright to the Italian public for the first time. However, I cacciatori di stelle (“The Stars Catchers”) never achieved the expected commercial success: in fact, it was a sales flop, and for years the Italian translation of the novel, published by Rizzoli, has been almost unavailable on the market. This interview with Margherita Zanoletti revolves around the genesis and the outcome of the project of translating Carpentaria into Italian, offering close micro-readings of the novel as an exemplary instance of polyphonic writing. The discussion touches on the ethical and practical choices related to the translation process, the relationship between the author and the translators, and the editorial intervention of the publisher – from the transformation of the title and the book cover design to the attempts to normalize Wright’s distinctly Indigenous Australian style. The interview also aims to emphasise on the one hand, the twofold role of the author as a storyteller and spokesperson for the Indigenous minority and, on the other hand, the role of the translators as readers, interpreters, mediators, and co-authors.