{"id":1704,"date":"2025-06-26T17:46:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T15:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/practicalsense.net\/?page_id=1704"},"modified":"2025-06-27T10:50:25","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T08:50:25","slug":"the-importance-of-collective-work-strategies-the-ltit-group","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/practicalsense.net\/index.php\/the-importance-of-collective-work-strategies-the-ltit-group\/","title":{"rendered":"The Importance of Collective Work Strategies: The LTit Group\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Anna Boschetti<\/span><\/strong><\/p>

The transnational research carried out by the LTit group (Literature Translated in Italy) clearly illustrates the importance of \u201ccollective work management strategies,\u201d which Pierre Bourdieu saw as a necessary condition for autonomy (2005). LTit was founded between 2012 and 2013 by Michele Sisto, Anna Baldini, and Ir\u00e8ne Fantappi\u00e8 thanks to ministerial funding secured for their collective project on the role of translations in national literary history. Pierre Bourdieu\u2019s theoretical framework serves as a fundamental reference for Baldini and Sisto, who have participated in ESSE conferences and maintain scholarly exchanges with Gis\u00e8le Sapiro, Christophe Charle, and other researchers working from a transnational perspective. Initially focused on German translations in the first half of the twentieth century, their project expanded in 2018 to include translations from other foreign literatures (notably Irish, Scandinavian, Czech, and Russian) with the aim of constructing a transnational history of Italian literature.<\/span><\/p>

This collective project explores three main avenues: the history of the Italian literary field, the history of publishing, and the impact of translations on texts from Italian authors. Additionally, it examines the relationships between literature and other relevant fields \u2013 political, academic, artistic, cinematic, and journalistic \u2013 and pays particular attention to the main gate keepers.<\/span><\/p>

Over time, the group has recruited new members who contribute to enriching the LTit digital database, launched in 2018. This online research platform catalogues translations published in book form throughout the twentieth century, establishes connections among original works, translations, and different editions of a text, and simultaneously pro-vides information on cultural mediators.<\/span><\/p>

In Italy, there is no established tradition of translation studies, and the group\u2019s approach challenges the disciplinary divisions in which the Italian university system is entrenched. Since the end of public funding in 2018, members have relied solely on research funds tied to their university positions. Due to these disciplinary barriers, early-career researchers joining the team face significant difficulties in advancing within the academic system.<\/span><\/p>

The founders of LTit have organized numerous conferences and seminars, strengthening the group\u2019s position within the academic and editorial space. Their book series\u00a0Letteratura tradotta in Italia<\/em>, launched in 2018 with the publisher Quodlibet, has already produced fourteen volumes, offering a reinterpretation of Italian literary history.<\/span><\/p>

The group also contributed to the establishment of the CeST (Centre for Translation Studies) in Siena in 2021, directed by Giulia Marcucci, who since 2024 coordinates a PhD program in Translation Studies at the\u00a0Universit\u00e0 per Stranieri di Siena. In 2022, LTit participated in the launch of the History and Translation Network (HTN), and in the foundation of the transdisciplinary journal ri.tra: rivista di traduzione<\/em> (Translation Journal) in 2023, which will soon be supplemented by the Quaderni di ri.tra series.<\/span><\/p>

In 2024, Michele Sisto published the programmatic text World Literature(s). Traduzioni e storia letteraria nazionale<\/em>, arguing that there is no singular world literature, but rather many world literatures that each retranslate the contributions of other literatures according to the specific possibilities characterizing the host space.<\/span><\/p>

The group has succeeded in establishing a new, collective position, now serving as a key reference for scholars in Italy who adopt a Bourdieusian approach within a transnational framework.<\/span><\/p>

Further readings<\/strong><\/span><\/p>