Una traduzione dimenticata: la "Poesia agli adulti" di Adam Ważyk

The fact that Franco Fortini translated in Italian the poetic manifesto of the post-Stalinist Polish "Thaw", The poem for adults [1955] by Adam Ważyk – a work which had also been semi-clandestinely translated by Bertolt Brecht in 1956 – is very little known. Fortini made it for the militant magazine "Ragionamenti" with the help of an enigmatic collaborator, Christina Furman, between the end of 1956 and the first months of 1957. The essay tries to reconstruct the historical and linguistic background of this translation project. It analyzes also Fortini’s translation strategies and the influence of this experience on his poetic work (a in particular on his caustic response to Pasolini Al di là della speranza (Beyond Hope, 1956), where echoes of the Polish 1956 resonate.