Translating counter-memory in Australian Aboriginal texts

This chapter explores the connections between memory, land and language in the Italian translations of two works of Australian Aboriginal writing: Sally Morgan’s My Place from 1987 and the more recent Carpentaria by Alexis Wright, which came out in 2008. The aim is to demonstrate how translation influences not only the reception of the literary work, but also the representation of Australian Aboriginal culture in a new context, where very little is known about this culture and very few of its literary works have been translated. More specifically, my analysis of the two Italian translations seeks to outline the extent to which these texts have been adapted for an Italian readership and to which extent the translators’ location and context have influenced their choices and the text’s reception in the new cultural context. The focus lies on the connections between memory, land, and language in Australian Aboriginal culture, and the way these are articulated in the source text through cultural, social and linguistic references. I outline the process of cultural translation - the passage from oral storytelling to autobiographical and testimonial writing - and determine the impact of interlingual translation on the complex configuration of Australian Aboriginal culture, orality and cultural memories.