Ricerc@Sapienza

The essay suggests a new field of study: the translations made by Leopardi in his own works (as opposed to his proper translations). As a specimen, the study chooses the first pages of the Zibaldone, where man finds many fragments of translations, or quotations which include short bits of literal translations. Reading with philological attentiveness these textual portions and comparing them with the original can prove a powerful critical tool, as is demonstrated, for example, by the analysis in terms of comic and tragic misogyny of the first quotation/translation (from Avian) in Zib. 1.