Theatre self-translation as cultural renegotiation and a tool of empowerment: the case of Luigi Pirandello

Abstract

This article investigates theatre self-translation as cultural renegotiation and a tool of empowerment, in terms of the relation between language and dialect, and the conceptualization of “national”. Building on previous research on the figure of self-translator, the issues of power and the monolingual paradigm, the article analyzes Luigi Pirandello’s self-translation of Tutto per bene from Italian into Sicilian. The case study begins with an outline of the Italian sociolinguistic context and Pirandello’s views on language, dialect and translation, followed by a detailed analysis of significant changes made in self-translation and of the (in)visibility of the Sicilian and Italian plays. While this self-translation occurs between language and dialect, it still involves cultural renegotiation dictated by a shift in the sociolinguistic reality. Pirandello’s dialect self-translation demonstrates that self-translators are agents helping challenge the existing power relations and that self-translation is a tool of empowerment, recognition and cultural inclusion.