Published 2020-12-31
Keywords
- Herman Melville, Italian translations, poetry
Abstract
The bicentennial of Herman Melville’s birth in 1819 was variously celebrated all over the world. Commemorations of his life, works, and legacy included conferences and exhibitions, while a new publishing fervour surrounded his books. Taking the cue from Melville’s 200th birthday this essay reviews the reception of his work in Italy – after the first revival of interest in the 1920s – from the 1930s through the present. A survey of the Italian translations and editions that made him known mostly as an innovative prose writer ahead of his time invites a reconsideration of a less acknowledged output of his literary art, namely poetry, especially the lyric verse of the final years of his life, which in Italy are still awaiting fuller recognition and popularization