Translating Women in Early Modern England

Dr Selene Scarsi is a Research Associate at the University of Hull, where she teaches English Renaissance Literature.

• Contents: Introduction ; Part I (Mis)Translating Women: Sir John Harington's Orlano Furioso in English Heroical Verse: Ariosto's female knights; Ariosto's other female characters; Addresses to and general comments on women. Part II Female Figures in Elizabethan Translations of the Gerusalemme Liberata: Tasso's female characters. Part III From Partial Translations to Adaptations and Imitations: Tofte's Boiardo: Orlando Inamorato; Tofte's Ariosto: Two Tales: Spenser's Ariosto; Epilogue: variations on the same theme. Ariosto's Cantos IV to VI; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

'Selene Scarsi's monograph, from Ashgate's Anglo-Italian Renaissance Studies Series, is the most comprehensive study to date of the complete and partial Elizabethan translations of Boiardo's Orlando Innamorato, Ariosto's Orlando Furioso, and Tasso's Gerusalemme Liberata, and it should become essential reading for future research on the translation and English Renaissance reception of these Italian poets. Scarsi's focus on how these translators ''English'' the female knights and characters in these Italian romance epics could also yield insights for gender critics of the period.' Renaissance Quarterly '... a scrupulous, well-organized, in-depth and detailed scholarly study offering a valuable contribution to the field of Translation Studies and to that of Anglo-Italian Renaissance Studies, in whose Ashgate series the volume is appropriately placed.' inTRAlinea '[Scarsi] brings to the field a rare commitment to minute verbal detail, an impressive command of rhetorical terms, and an exhaustive knowledge of nearly a century’s worth of criticism in two languages... Readers will appreciate the comprehensiveness of this book, which, far from being limited to considerations of gender, traces the Elizabethan fascination with Italian literary culture, the relatively relaxed early modern attitude toward authorship and attribution, and the dynamics of imaginative exchange that could transport characters, plot devices, and metaphors across linguistic, generic, and temporal bounds.' Sixteenth Century Studies ’...constitutes a significant contribution to our knowledge of early modern English translation theory and practice and the book’s treatment of a broad range of important issues renders it interesting for scholars concerned not only with Translation Studies but also with Intertextuality, Anglo-Italian relations, and Gender Studies.’ Notes and Queries '... a comprehensive and detailed study which combines precious insights in the field of translation theory wi