by Joe Luzzi (Bard College) Olin Humanities, Room 102 6:30 pm EDT/GMT-4 The Italians have a saying
traduttore, traditore – that is, the “translator" of a book can often be a “traitor” to it if he fails to capture both its letter and its spirit! In this event, Professor Joseph Luzzi will discuss his new translation of Dante’s
Vita Nuova (Liveright/Norton, December 2024), which was Dante’s first book and a moving account of his youthful love for his muse, Beatrice, and his discovery of his passion for poetry. Professor Luzzi will show how his understanding of translation as a “way of thinking” also helped him complete his recent
Dante’s Divine Comedy: A Biography (Princeton University Press, November 2024). Overall, he will share his experiences in trying to remain faithful to Dante’s original language, while at the same time bringing his own personal understanding and interpretation of the
Vita Nuova, an early masterpiece by Italy’s so-called
sommo poeta, supreme poet.