Crime fiction and science fiction (SF) have long been associated with male writers and readers. Typically, in these popular genres the main characters have been men, while women have been mostly represented in a traditional way. This changed when, in the 1970s and early 1980s, a number of women writers appropriated these forms of popular fiction, subverting their conventional elements and introducing heroines and themes that had a strong feminist character. In this article I examine the Italian translations of these texts, looking at what extent these gender-based innovations in crime fiction and SF were represented in the Italian versions. The results show that while most of these texts were allowed entrance into the Italian cultural space, a number became the site of gendered discourses, affecting both the paratextual and the textual levels.
Dangerous visions? The circulation and translation of women’s crime fiction and science fiction
Diana Bianchi
2018
Abstract
Crime fiction and science fiction (SF) have long been associated with male writers and readers. Typically, in these popular genres the main characters have been men, while women have been mostly represented in a traditional way. This changed when, in the 1970s and early 1980s, a number of women writers appropriated these forms of popular fiction, subverting their conventional elements and introducing heroines and themes that had a strong feminist character. In this article I examine the Italian translations of these texts, looking at what extent these gender-based innovations in crime fiction and SF were represented in the Italian versions. The results show that while most of these texts were allowed entrance into the Italian cultural space, a number became the site of gendered discourses, affecting both the paratextual and the textual levels.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
