Worldcrunch
While literary distinctions are evolving, the divide between local and foreign literature remains firmly in place. In 2024, it is easier for writers to change passports than to change bookshelves, says Vincenzo Latronico, an Italian writer who lived in Berlin and published a book in German.
A spurious happy ending and a focus on the marvels of the exotic East characterize our understanding of The Travels of Marco Polo, the book about the 13th-century Italian explorer. But the Italian writer who worked on the book’s latest translation reveals how focused on war, profit and money the explorer was — and how translators sugarcoated the work through the centuries.