A Note on the Italian Translations of Ulysses
Over the last hundred years, the reading of Ulysses has accompanied and puzzled us in many different languages. Despite a relatively late start (the first complete translation only appearing in 1960), Italian scholars have been strenuously engaging with Joyce’s book of the day, so much so that Italy can now boast the highest number of translations of this text. On the occasion of the centenary of its publication, here is a (hopefully complete) list of Italian translations of Ulysses:
- James Joyce, Ulisse, Unica traduzione integrale autorizzata di Giulio De Angelis, Milano, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1960. Subsequent editions of this first authorised translation were published, among which the one included in the prestigious collection “I Meridiani” (1971), with an introduction by Giorgio Melchiori and a chronology, commentary and bibliography by Giulio De Angelis, a new revised edition (1988), with a preface by Richard Ellmann and a note on the text by Hans Walter Gabler, based on the corrected text, until the latest (2018) for the collection “Oscar Moderni”.
- James Joyce, Ulisse, versione e note di Bona Flecchia, Firenze, Shakespeare & Company, 1995. Famously, the text was withdrawn from the market due to copyright infringement.
- James Joyce, Ulisse, a cura di Enrico Terrinoni, traduzione di Enrico Terrinoni con Carlo Bigazzi, Roma, Newton Compton, 2012. Published immediately after the expiry of copyright protection, this translation, winner of the “Premio Napoli 2012”, features an excellent introduction, a biographical note and a bibliography, as well as a rich critical apparatus of notes to single episodes.
- James Joyce, Ulisse, traduzione e prefazione di Gianni Celati, Torino, Einaudi, 2013. This translation is accompanied by a preface but lacks explanatory notes.
- James Joyce, Ulisse, traduzione e note di Mario Biondi, Milano, La Nave di Teseo, 2020. This annotated edition is accompanied by a map of 1904 Dublin and “Prolegomena” by the translator.
- James Joyce, Ulisse, a cura di Alessandro Ceni, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2021. This translation is accompanied by an introductory note.
- James Joyce, Ulisse, a cura di Enrico Terrinoni, Firenze, Giunti-Bompiani, 2021. This groundbreaking bilingual edition is the first Italian translation of Ulysses accompanied by the original text. It features an introduction and essays by Enrico Terrinoni, Declan Kiberd, Diarmuid O’ Giolláin, Carlo Bigazzi and Fabio Pedone, as well as a rich apparatus of notes, schemes, Homeric correspondences, characters, maps.
- James Joyce, Ulisse, traduzione di Marco Marzagalli, Genova, Amazon, 2021. This “Entirely annotated translation” is accompanied by an introductory note as well as notes to single episodes and text.
- James Joyce, Ulisse, traduzione di Livio Crescenzi, Tonina Giuliani e Marta Viazzoli, Fidenza, Mattioli, 2021.
Annalisa Federici