California Italian Studies

In this article I analyze author Syria Poletti’s novel, Gente conmigo, as an early example of the role of translation, and more broadly language, in migration. Drawing from philosopher of language John L. Austin’s lectures, I focus on the performative translations the protagonist, Nora, completes in order to help her clients assimilate into Argentine society. I maintain that Nora consistently prioritizes cultural over linguistic translation, breaking the conventions of the latter in order to facilitate the former. I engage with the field of ethics in translation and sociologist Erving Goffman’s work on social interactions as performance as I examine Nora’s interactions with four clients who request translations from her, as well as her own experiences as an immigrant. These interactions highlight identity as performative, and her translations are likewise performative, helping her clients immigrate to Argentina and adopt an Argentine identity. Poletti’s interrogations into the relationship between language and sense of belonging for immigrants would only be taken up again in Argentina and Italy decades later.