"I am currently translating Suo marito (Her Husband), one of Pirandello's lesser-known novels, written in the early twentieth century, but perhaps for this very reason, one of the most fascinating to rediscover. At the centre of the story is Silvia Roncella, a talented writer, and her husband Giustino Boggiolo. This ambitious man transforms his wife’s art into a project to be managed, promoted, and capitalised on. For Silvia, writing is an inner voice; for Giustino, it is strategy, marketing, and building a public image. This rift not only triggers a marital crisis but also a lucid reflection on the relationship between creativity and success.
The novel sparked controversy upon its publication, heightened by a 1908 statement by Pirandello: the author admitted he drew inspiration from the husband of his contemporary, Grazia Deledda, to create Giustino Boggiolo. While always championing the freedom of literary invention, the boundary between reality and fiction, so dear to Pirandello, became a living and sensitive subject.
The challenge of the translation lies in rendering the lively spoken Roman dialect, rich in colour and irony, into Catalan without losing the contrast with the more composed language of intellectuals, marked by high registers and subtler nuances. It is a subtle interplay between faithfulness to the text and creative freedom, between the voice of the people and the voice of culture.