The First Translations of the Italian Literary avant-garde movement on the Chinese press at the beginning of the Twentieth Century

The role played by Italian literature in the renewal of the Chinese literary canon was certainly limited, compared to other western literatures. However Italian authors and their works were not completely absent in the cultural Chinese arena at the beginning of the 20th century. Some important magazines of that period (Xiaoshuo yuebao, Dongfang zazhi, Xin qingnian) offered to Chinese readers a taste of Italian fiction, poetry and drama. This paper will be focused on some of the first Chinese translations of Italian literary works published in the Twenties; these are theatrical pieces of Futurism Avant-garde, the unique literary contribution that Italy was able to offer to world literature at the beginning of the 20th century. The paper will also analyse two short novels written by the author who Chinese intellectuals, in that period, defined as “the first giant of Italian contemporary literature”: Gabriele D’Annunzio. Through the analysis of translations and writings on the western drama by Song Chunfang, we will try to interpret what was the Chinese reception, or mis-reception, of these works, and what was the aim, and perhaps, the contribution of these translations in the process of definition of Chinese spoken drama. We will also try to determine whether these works were only translated for the pleasure of the reading or also played on stage in that period. And what was, if any, their contribution to the creation of the new modern Chinese drama and to the cultural and literary Chinese debate at the beginning of 20th century.

Il contributo della letteratura italiana al rinnovamento e alla nascita del canone letterario moderno in Cina fu certamente limitato, soprattutto se paragonato ad altre tradizioni letterarie europee; tuttavia alcuni autori e opere italiane furono significativamente presenti nel dibattito culturale cinese di inizio Novecento. Alcune riviste del periodo (Xiaoshuo yuebao, Dongfang zazhi, Xin qingnian) offrirono ai loro lettori 'assaggi' di narrativa, poesia o drammaturgia italiana. Il contributo analizza le prime traduzioni di piéces futuriste pubblicate sulla Dongfang zazhi negli anni '20, per capire quale fu la lettura cinese di questa avanguardia letteraria, e quale il contributo, se ve ne fu, di questo movimento alla nascita del teatro parlato cinese. Queste opere furono solo tradotte o furono messe in scena nei nuovi teatri delle metropoli cinesi dell'inizio del secolo scorso?