Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Date of Degree
6-2026
Document Type
Master's Capstone Project
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Program
Liberal Studies
Advisor
Mikhal Dekel
Subject Categories
Italian Literature | Translation Studies
Keywords
cultural memory, affect theory, narrative form, Italo-Tunisian diaspora, decolonization, multilingualism
Abstract
This project examines the relationship between memory and translation through an original English translation of Marinette Pendola’s La riva lontana, an autobiographical narrative of Italo-Tunisian life shaped by migration and decolonization. It approaches the text as a “memory text,” whose organizing logic lies in the process of remembering rather than in chronological sequence. Drawing on Paul Ricœur’s hermeneutics of narrative, as well as work in memory studies, affect theory, and translation studies, the project argues that memory is an interpretive activity structured through narrative form. From this perspective, translation is not the transfer of fixed meaning from one language to another, but a further phase in which memory continues to take shape, allowing past worlds to remain perceptible across languages and cultural contexts.
Recommended Citation
Ciriello, Richard, "The Distant Shore: Translating Memory and the Mnemonic Afterlife of Marinette Pendola’s La riva lontana" (2026). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/6649
