The Letters of Silence Dogood: First Italian Translation

The main purpose of this thesis will be to provide an Italian translation of the Silence Dogood letters, written by Benjamin Franklin in 1722. This historical documentation has never been translated into other languages and stands to represent the first record of Benjamin Franklin's early writings. The choice to translate these fourteen letters could help better understand the genius of Franklin and further investigate the rise of Boston before the American Independence. The dissertation presents a detailed textual and translation analysis that will trace historical and linguistic aspects of the time. Furthermore, the main phases that led to the writing of these letters will be examined, together with the original versions of Franlin’s letters.
The study will be divided into three parts. In Chapter I will analyze the historical background, considering the rise of Benjamin Franklin as Silence Dogood in The New-England Courant; Chapter II will propose the fourteen translations of Dogoods’ letters, and ultimately in Chapter III, I will provide the reader with morphological, syntax and stylistic commentary of the work within a textual analysis. Translation problems and possible solutions in the Italian language will also be discussed.
The reference texts that have been a fundamental resource for this is The U.S. Constitution and Other Writings released by Canterbury Classics and introduced by Ken Mondschein, The Life of Benjamin Franklin: Journalist 1706-1730 by J.A. Leo Lemay, followed by Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography.