Translation Martín Fierro: Folco Testena's cultural credential

Abstract

In the introduction to Martín Fierro, published to accompany his first rendering of José Hernandez's work into Italian, Folco Testena forges his self-figuration as a translator within the interstices between literature and life. This first-person narration not only dives deep into the realms of intimacy, but also reveals the socio-historical circumstances around which immigrants carried out intellectual work in early 20th century, cosmopolitan Buenos Aires. In the shape of a tale of self-improvement, translating Martín Fierro earned Folco Testena a cultural credential within an environment of political censorship and hostility toward foreigners. The objective of this article is to increase the availability of a text of limited access and to make a contribution to the history of translation with a focus on the social subjects involved in the task.