Anglo-American Science Fiction in Italy: The Translation Phenomenon and the Italianization Process 1952-2021

This dissertation investigates the reception, translation, and cultural transformation of science fiction in Italy from the early postwar period to the early twenty-first century. Focusing primarily on Anglo-American science fiction while also accounting for the increasing presence of global science fiction, the study examines how science fiction has been introduced, translated, adapted, and localized within the Italian cultural system across different historical phases. The time frame spans from the emergence of specialized science fiction publishing in Italy in the 1950s to contemporary forms of science fiction dissemination, including digital media and video games. The study addresses several interrelated research questions: how has science fiction been defined, debated, and critically framed in the Italian context? What role have translation and editorial mediation played in shaping the Italian reception of science fiction? How have different media—such as literature, comics, film, and video games—contributed to the dissemination and popularization of science fiction in Italy? Finally, how do Italian developments in science fiction reflect, adapt, or diverge from broader Anglo-American and international trends? The dissertation adopts an interdisciplinary and comparative methodology, combining literary analysis, translation studies, and media studies with historical research on publishing and criticism. The corpus includes translated science fiction novels, Italian science fiction magazines and periodicals, academic and critical texts, science fiction comics, films, and selected video games. Through a series of case studies, the analysis examines both textual strategies—such as translation choices and localization practices—and paratextual elements, including editorial framing, publication formats, and critical discourse. The study demonstrates that science fiction in Italy is characterized by a high degree of diversity and media hybridity. While the science fiction novel remains a foundational form, comics, films, and video games have played a decisive role in making science fiction accessible to wider audiences. The analysis also reveals that modern science fiction media continue to draw heavily on literary traditions, reworking long-standing themes such as artificial life, technological responsibility, and human–machine relations. In the Italian context, the development of science fiction closely parallels major Anglo-American trends, such as the New Wave, while being shaped by the active intervention of translators, editors, and publishers. Translation emerges not as a neutral transfer, but as a creative and historically situated practice that significantly influences genre formation and reception. By examining science fiction in Italy across multiple media and through the lens of translation and localization, this dissertation contributes to science fiction studies by moving beyond literature-centered approaches. It highlights the central role of cultural mediation in the transnational circulation of science fiction and provides a comprehensive account of how Italian science fiction has evolved in dialogue with international traditions. More broadly, the study offers an integrated framework for analyzing science fiction as a dynamic cultural system, relevant to ongoing debates in science fiction studies, translation studies, and media studies.