Come tradurre? Pier Paolo Pasolini and the Tradition of Italian Translations of Virgil's Aeneid

In Italy, Virgil is connected with cultural and political developments, especially with the language policy of the bourgeois elite during the unification of the country and the striving of the fascist movement to bring about a standard language. So the question of translations cannot be considered without looking at the turbulent history of Italy. Therefore this chapter starts out with a quick look at the significance of Virgil as an ‘Italian’ poet between Risorgimento and fascism. Then the chapter considers more closely Pier Paolo Pasolini’s experimental translation in 1959 of the opening part of the Aeneid, in contrast with traditional translations and the modern Italian version of Virgil by Vittorio Sermonti. This makes it possible to evaluate the position of Pasolini’s experiment and to come to some cautious generalizing conclusions on the Italian tradition of translating Virgil.