Agenda

Interview
1.    Please provide a brief outline of your training and scientific activity. 
My academic background is in Italian and Serbian language and literature, and I hold a PhD in literary translation. I currently teach at the University of Banja Luka, where my research has mainly focused on the linguistic and cultural processes involved when a literary text moves from one context to another, with particular attention to intercultural and interlinguistic contact between the Serbian-Croatian-Bosnian and Italian linguistic and cultural spheres. During my stay at Ca’ Foscari, I am working on two closely related strands of research. The first looks at hypercorrection in literary translation, particularly at cases in which translators go beyond what is strictly required by the source text by intensifying, expanding or stylistically reshaping it. Rather than treating such interventions simply as translation errors, I am interested in what happens when they become part of the creative process of translation. Comics translation has become a particularly important part of my work, and I am the official Bosnian translator of Zerocalcare’s graphic novels. This combination of research and translation practice has also shaped my interest in one of the most fascinating cases of comics translation in the former Yugoslav context: the Yugoslav translation of the Italian comic Alan Ford. By comparing the Italian original with Nenad Brixy’s translation, I am examining the translator’s creative interventions and asking to what extent they contributed to the remarkable cultural life that Alan Ford acquired in Yugoslavia. 
2.    Please state your reasons for choosing Venice and the Department for your research and teaching stay.
I chose Ca’ Foscari because it is one of the leading European universities for the study of foreign languages, literatures and cultures, and the DSLCC offers an academic environment that is particularly close to my own research interests. Its strong comparative and interdisciplinary orientation, as well as the attention it gives to a wide range of European languages and cultural traditions, make it an especially stimulating place for research in literary translation and intercultural studies. During my stay, I have had the privilege of collaborating in particular with Professor Mirella Agorni, whose expertise, guidance and intellectual generosity have been invaluable to the development of my own research. Ca’ Foscari also provides excellent practical conditions for research. Access to its specialised libraries and extensive linguistic and literary collections, together with the seminars and conferences, allows me to work in an environment where research is part of a much broader intellectual exchange. 
3.    Have you ever had a research collaboration with the teaching staff of DSLCC in the past?
Yes. My collaboration with the Department actually began through the Erasmus+ staff mobility programme between Ca’ Foscari and the Faculty of Philology at the University of Banja Luka. Over the course of several Erasmus+ stays in Venice, I had the opportunity to teach within the Department’s Serbian-Croatian programme and the pleasure of working closely with Professor Marija Bradaš, whose openness to collaboration made these visits particularly rewarding. Through her, I also had the opportunity to take part in Venezia legge i Balcani, an invaluable project that has brought together literature, translation and cultural exchange between Venice and the Balkans and allowed me to become more closely involved in the Department’s academic and cultural activities. What began as cooperation through Erasmus+ has therefore developed into a much broader academic network and opened up new possibilities for collaboration.