Refractions of the poetic text : translating W.H. Auden into Italian

Abstract

The circulation of a poetic text is often related to factors whose nature is not exclusively artistic, among which can be included the modalities through which the works of a poet are "refracted" according to the necessities, the expectations and the (economic or artistic) interests of his/her publishers, editors, translators and common or specialized readers. The occasion and the starting point for a reflection on the Italian translations of Wystan Hugh Auden's poetic macrotext is given by the presence of the poem "Funeral Blues", better known as "Stop All the Clocks" (written with Christopher Isherwood and originally included in The Ascent of F6 as a funeral chant for the death of James Ranson) in the movie Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994). Mike Newell's comedy tells the story of a group of British friends and of the contrasted love between Charles (Hugh Grant) and the America girl Carrie (Andie MacDowell). The funeral the title alludes to is Gareth's (Simon Callow), a homosexual whom Matthew, another member of the group, dedicates Auden's poem.