Tradurre una voce da una selezione di The Letters of Shirley Jackson

This thesis presents a translation proposal of The Letters of Shirley Jackson, the first collection of Shirley Jackson’s correspondence, edited by Laurence Jackson Hyman and Bernice M. Murphy. Chapter One outlines the theoretical framework of epistolary writing, focusing on its linguistic, communicative and literary features. Chapter Two reconstructs Shirley Jackson’s biography, literary production and critical reception, with particular attention to her contribution to American Gothic literature and the rediscovery of her work in recent decades. Chapter Three analyses the volume from an editorial and linguistic perspective, examining its history and structure, the editorial choices behind the collection, and the main stylistic features of Jackson’s correspondence. Chapter Four presents a translation into Italian of a representative selection of letters, accompanied by a commentary on the principal translation challenges, including the rendering of colloquial language, humour, punctuation, repetition and culture-specific references. The final section proposes a possible Italian publication of the volume, discussing its editorial positioning and identifying potential publishers. The thesis aims to highlight the literary and documentary value of Jackson’s correspondence and to assess the feasibility of introducing this work to the Italian publishing market.