Comments on “From the Family Album”

1. Phil says:

   25 June 2009 at 9:43 pm

   Where did you get this? It certainly captures something. From yesterday’s Repubblica:

   Berlusconi esige da noi, per principio e diritto divino, come se davvero fosse “unto dal Signore”, la passiva accettazione dei suoi discorsi. Pretende che non ci siano repliche o rilievi alle sue parole. Reclama per sé il monopolio di un’apparenza che si cucina in casa con i cuochi di famiglia. Senza contraddittorio, senza una domanda, senza un’increspatura, senza la solidità dei fatti da lui addirittura non contraddetti, senza un estraneo nei dintorni. Vuole solo famigli e salariati. Con loro, il Cavaliere frantuma la realtà degradata che vive. La rimonta come gli piace a mano libera e ce la consegna pulita e illuminata bene. A noi tocca soltanto diventare spettatori – plaudenti – della sua performance.

   Loosely:

   “He claims the monopoly of a public image which he cooks up at home with the family cook. Not troubled by a single contradiction, by a question, a wrinkle, by solid facts he hasn’t even troubled to deny, or by the presence of any strangers. He wants no one around him but relatives and employees. … Our only function is to watch his performance – and applaud.”

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   • Thomas Jones says:

     25 June 2009 at 11:16 pm

     An email doing the rounds of what’s left of the Italian left.

     What about the other sentences from La Repubblica? Again, loosely: ‘Berlusconi demands, on principle and by divine right, as if he were indeed “anointed by God”, that we passively accept his speeches. He pretends that there are no objections or replies to be made to his words . . . With them [his relatives and employees] the Cavalier breaks into pieces the degraded reality of his life. Then he puts it back together however he likes, with a free hand, and sends it out clean and well lit.’

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2. Phil says:

   25 June 2009 at 11:36 pm

   Thanks – translating the whole thing looked a bit too much like work!

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