29/10/2021, 16:46 “Via Gemito”: Domenico Starnone’s Ur-Text https://readingintranslation.com/2021/10/11/via-gemito-domenico-starnones-ur-text/ 1/11 READING IN TRANSLATIO N Translations Reviewed by Translators Search this site... SEARCH CATEGORIES Select Category FOLLOW BLOG VIA EMAIL Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notiôications of new posts by email. Email Address Follow TAGS Ann Goldstein Argentina City Lights Books Domenico Starnone Elena Ferrante Enrica Maria Ferrara Eric Gudas Europa Editions Family Lexicon Fiction France Interview Italian literature Jhumpa Lahiri literary i “VIA GEMITO”: DOMENICO STARNONE’S UR-TEXT October 11, 2021 · by smilkova · in Italian, Special Issue on Domenico Starnone · Leave a comment · Edit By Enrica Maria Ferrara Via Gemito, Starnone’s widely acclaimed novel (winner of the coveted Strega prize in 2001), is a book that appears to erupt from a place of torment: at the onset, a son reckons the number of times he has seen his father beating up his mother. He wants his recollection to be accurate, his account – as those episodes of violence will eventually be reconstructed – to be collected and calm. As his father Federì reassures the now adult narrator Mimì “to have beaten up [his] mother only once throughout their twenty-three years of marriage,” (di aver picchiato mia madre una volta sola durante i ventitrè anni del loro matrimonio, 5) , Mimì’s strong urge to unveil the truth quickly morphs into a rage which worries him far more than his father’s lies. For he is afraid that his 1 ABOUT CONTRIBUTORS ELENA FERRANTE’S “THE LYING LIFE OF ADULTS” ESSAYS ON TRANSLATION READING DOMENICO STARNONE READING NATALIA GINZBURG TRANSLATORS ON BOOKS THAT SHOULD BE TRANSLATED WRITE FOR US