LE TRADUZIONI ITALIANE DEI ROMANZI DI ARKADIJ E BORIS STRUGACKIJ. Il difficile destino editoriale di due scrittori non dissidenti

From the extensive literary output of Arkadij and Boris Strugakij (the complete works currently published in Russia comprise thirty-three volumes), Italian readers were already conversant with certain titles at the beginning of the 1960s, due to the efforts of the Russian-born journalist and French national Jacques Bergier, who proposed the inclusion of three short stories by the Strugackij brothers in the collection 14 Short Stories of Russian Science Fiction, published by Feltrinelli in 1961. This was followed by a series of novels published in the 1980s. The 1990s saw a paucity of publications by the Strugackij brothers, whereas the 2000s witnessed a resurgence of interest in the literary output of these two Soviet writers. This was evidenced by the appearance of new translations of previously published works and the release of titles that had not previously been available in Italy. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the publication history of Strugackij's novels and short stories in Italy, situated within the cultural context of the period between the 1960s and the 2000s. In particular, the role of translation and the emergence of new literary media will be examined in depth.