Emilio Mattioli: traduzione e provvisorietà come conquista

In the 1960s, when Translation Studies was not yet a recognized discipline, philosopher and philologist Emilio Mattioli (1933-2007) began to publish his studies on the theory of translation, which eventually became very influential in the development of the field in Italy, together with the writings of other outstanding philologists and linguists such as Gianfranco Folena and Benvenuto Terracini. A recent collection of Mattioli’s essays published between 1965 and 2005 testifies to the importance of Mattioli’s contribution to the nascent field of translation theory (The problem of translating, Mucchi, 2017). Drawing particularly on this collection, the paper will focus on the neo-phenomenological method that consistently guided his work. It will also consider Mattioli’s experiences as a translator, his discursive method built on a solid humanistic education, and his broadminded sensitivity to the ethical and aesthetic implications of the complex act of translating.