La autotraducción como herramienta de afirmación identitaria en Rosario Ferré: La muñeca menor /The Youngest Doll

This paper analyzes the self-translation/rewriting processescarried out by the Puerto Rican writer Rosario Ferré (1938-2016) in thetransposition of the short story “La muñeca menor” / “The Youngest Doll.”A comparative analysis of the versions reveals Ferré's need to affirm,through translation, a dual identity based on ideological adherence to twocultures: Puerto Rican and American. I also want to highlight how these 15/05/25, 16:50 CVC. II encuentro del joven hispanismo e hispanoamericano italiano. La autotraducción como herramienta de afirmación identit… https://cvc.cervantes.es/literatura/ajhi/02/07_giacchino.htm 1/13 processes respond to the need for a virtual reconciliation between twocultures to which the writer equally belongs. “La muñeca menor” (1972) was translated into English under the title “TheYoungest Doll” (1986) in collaboration with Diana Vélez. The self-translationtakes on a recreational connotation by ideologically reorienting the text inrelation to its target audience. Through a rewriting in between , Ferréreclaims the importance of bilingualism. “The Youngest Doll” is the productof a consecutive self-translation from a language of lower social prestige toone of unquestionable symbolic capital, a new original in which linguisticdiglossias are reflected.