De beelden van de Lage Landen in Italiaanse literaire vertalingen. Het verband tussen de selectie, receptie en beeldvorming van Nederlandstalige literatuur in Italiaanse vertalingen (2000-2018)

This chapter aims to investigate the image of the Low Countries spread in Italy through the translation of Dutch-language novels in the period 2000-2018. By combining the study of literary images within the framework of Imagology (Beller and Leerssen, 2007) and Translation Studies (Heilbron, 1999; van Doorslaer, Flynn and Leerssen, 2016), this study ranges from the sociological macro-level of the genesis of translations (selection and reception) to the micro-level of textual analysis, in order to understand if and to what extent the selection, promotion and translation of literary works from Dutch into Italian contribute to creating or strengthening certain images associated with the Low Countries. In addition, this contribution aims to take a step onwards in the field of Imagology by illustrating a method for the analysis of the textual images present in translated literature. To that end, 522 images contained in 25 Dutch-language novels will be analysed.