Nello spazio della traduzione: veste, lingua e viaggio in Lea Ritter Santini

The aim of this contribution is to account for the specific methodology of translation practice employed by the well-known Germanist and comparatist Lea Ritter Santini (1928-2008). It will first focus on surveying the way in which Lea Ritter Santini interpreted the task of translation, then on the significance of the inevitable reflection of this task on her identity as a cultural mediator. First of all, the mythological metaphor of Alcmena’s veil, through which Lea Ritter Santini interpreted the practice of translation, will be analysed, offering an alternative image to those prevalent in Translation Studies, such as the Tower of Babel and the biblical struggle with the angel, which can effectively convey original meanings on translation and its relationship with literature tout court. Reference will subsequently be made to Rosi Braidotti’s theory of the “nomadic subject” (Braidotti 2002), Michaela Wolf’s “multiple identities” (Wolf 2012) and Mieke Bal’s “travelling concepts” (Bal 2002), in order to fully understand the role of the translator – in this case Lea Ritter Santini – with respect to a revaluation of the boundaries between literatures, languages and spaces; a role that will coincide with that of the traveller, who becomes a central device for the circulation of knowledge and its displacement.