Enriching Exegesis through Translation: The Case of Constance Markievicz’s Writings

Focusing as a case study on the Italian translation of Constance Markievicz’s
writings, this paper reflects on the exegetical value of translation. Born into
the Anglo-Irish Ascendancy, Irish nationalist Markievicz waged an unrelenting
war of words against English power in Ireland for nearly two decades, and
she combined it with the armed fight and activism she is best known for.
Her eventful life and daunting actions have been evoked retrospectively
and through anecdotes that depict her either as a heroine or an extravagant
woman, an «average revolutionary» and a «pestilent harridan». Her writings, by
contrast, have received partial critical attention and remain mostly uncollected
to this day. Rarely, that is, she has been allowed to speak for herself. In such
respect, the critical edition of Markievicz’s writings in translation is a rewarding
starting point. Translation can make a significant impact upon literary and
historical scholarship: it revisits contexts, it tests secondary sources, it pursues
«the intentio of the original», and «liberates» (Benjamin) the language therein
imprisoned. Markievicz’s writings are exemplary of the way translation can
liberate her voice, rethink perceptions of her, shed a different light on her and
her words, ultimately contributing to our knowledge of her times and of ours.