Abstract
The Mirrors and the Masks presents a collection of intentionally heterogeneous essays, translated from seven languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish and penned preponderantly by contemporary authors, even though there is also an excursus to the remote past. They mostly focus on the theme of individual and collective identity, as connected with the image of cultural regions, the definition of home and the defense or transgression of traditions.
They also shed light on a confrontation of national and "non-national" identities, the problem of "unitary images" and one-sided perspectives as well as the conception of minority literatures and linguistic minorities. Hybridization with both its positive and negative consequences is another paramount issue, as well as it is the onus of the heritage of "foreign" past and the theme of progressive cultural emancipation.
The purpose of the volume is not to provide ready-made answers and unitary delimitations, but is instead to be an invitation for further reflection and contemplation of the subjects in question. The volume units the genre of essay and the theme of cultural identity and diversity from the perspective of regional studies, post-colonial theories, cultural translation and narrative turn.
The emphasis falls on the necessity of dialogue and the importance of translations in all its forms and likenesses, so that the balance between unity and multiplicity may be pursued and the conflict between extremes, and often extremist monoliths, might be prevented. Every essay is introduced by a lead paragraph and accompanied by a short descriptionof its author.
The original texts were penned by Bái Jūyì, a Chinese poet; Giacomo Leopardi, an Italian poet and novelist; Giuseppe Prezzolini, an Italian literary critic; Taha Hussein, an Egyptian essayist and literary historian; Giuseppe Antonio Borgese, an Italian novelist and literary critic; Joan Didion, an American journalist and essayist; Richard Price, an American anthropologist and historian; Silviano Santiago, a Brazilian novelist and literary critic; Tony Tannen, a British literary critic; Ricardo Piglia, an Argentinian writer and essayist; Néstor García Canclini, an Argentine-born anthropologist and culture theorist; Pierre Nepveu, a French Canadian poet, writer and essayist; Michel Deguy, a French poet and essayist; Noël Audet, a French Canadian novelist, playwright and essayist; Eduardo Lourenço, a Portuguese literary critic, philosopher and essayist; Sebastiano Vassalli, an Italian novelist and essayist; and Albert Caraco, a French-Uruguayan philosopher, writer, essayist and poet of Turkish Jewish descent.