The Translation of The Sentimental Journey by Ugo Foscolo, or The Beginning of Italian Literary Modernity

The translation of SterneÌøåÀå_s Sentimental Journey by Ugo Foscolo is not only of an extempore work of craftsmanship, but rather constitutes a very precise cultural point of split towards modernity. In confronting the world of the English novel, Foscolo sees a serious and concrete possibility for the renewal of Italian literary world, through the introduction of a foreign work in the literary marketplace of Italy as well as of a new prose for discussing the problems of the present. In imitating and re-creating SterneÌøåÀå_s Journey, Foscolo discovers also a critical discipline in translating and a candid engament in criticism, rooted in VicoÌøåÀå_s historicism, which will deeply renovate the motionless Italian debate. FoscoloÌøåÀå_s life-lasting activity of translating therefore constantly moulds his lively laboratory of language, and establishes the base for his English engagement in literary criticism.