The Hidden Reflection

Hermenèia and Rewriting in 19th Century Italian Theory

This book presents and analyses twelve different writings from 19th century Italian literature on the topic of translation. With the exception of their original publication and some earlier reissues, these texts have never been republished in the 20th or 21st centuries and have remained in the shadows for about two centuries. Nevertheless, they provide a very important testimony to the lively interest in translation and the debate that characterized this specific period of Italian literary culture. The few international studies that deal with 19th century theoretical reflection on translation in Italy often focus only on some scattered contributions of a few influential writers (e.g. Leopardi and Foscolo). In this regard, this book could spark new investigations on the subject.