2

Theory, practice, activism

Gramsci as a translation theorist

Marta Natalia Wróblewska

Introduction: Gramsci and the question of language

Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937) was one of the twentieth century’s most influential figures
in political theory and political activism. Founder of the Italian Communist Party, he
influenced an entire generation of scholars, union activists, and politicians. When in
1926 Mussolini’s Fascist government introduced a wave of emergency laws which saw
the opposition parties delegalised, Gramsci, alongside several leaders of the communist
movement, was arrested on charges of conspiracy and attempting to incite a civil war.
The prosecutor who sentenced Gramsci to prison, despite the fact that he was protected
by parliamentary immunity, allegedly declared: ‘we must stop this brain from function-
ing for 20 years’ (Togliatti 1937). Ironically, the Prison Notebooks–—a collection of
reflections and essays on a range of topics, from politics, through philosophy to litera-
ture, written during Gramsci’s confinement between 1929 and 1935–—testify to how
Gramsci’s brain continued to function during the entire period of his imprisonment, and
long after his death continued to have an impact on readers and activists. Gramsci’s con-
cepts, including ‘cultural hegemony,’ ‘organic intellectuals,’ and ‘subalternity’ (Gramsci
2000; Hoare and Sperber 2015) have penetrated not only into academic discourse but
also into journalistic and political genres.
Alongside his engagement in politics, Gramsci was a keen linguist and a polyglot.
His interest in languages can be traced back to his childhood experience of multilingual-
ism. He was born into a family of Arbëreshë (Italo-Albanian) descent (Carlucci 2013:
124) and spent his formative years in a small town in central Sardinia where dialects of
Sardinian were spoken alongside Italian (or indeed dominated the linguistic landscape)
(Carlucci 2013: 31). Gramsci’s personal experience of bi- and multilingualism may have
pushed him to study and practise translation. He studied linguistics for four years at the
University of Turin before he renounced his studies in favour of journalism and political
activism in the Italian Communist Party and left the university without graduating.
Gramsci’s involvement with languages continued in his later life: his Russian wife, Julia,
was an aspiring translator and Gramsci himself translated from German and Russian,
treating this activity as an intellectual exercise during the years he spent in prison. Trans-
lation exercises were part of his studies (this is the case for his translations of Marx’s

13
Marta Natalia Wróblewska

texts) and a pastime (in the case of translations of fairy tales of the brothers Grimm,
which Gramsci sent as a gift to his children).
In approaching Gramsci’s theory of translation, it is necessary to take note of the
fragmented and sometimes eclectic nature of his writings. The notebooks are com-
posed of separate notes sometimes just a few sentences long, sometimes spanning
several pages, where the same concepts return in various constellations and contexts.
This form of Gramsci’s writings was no doubt shaped by the material conditions in
which they were produced: writing in solitary confinement, Gramsci was only permit-
ted a limited number of notepads and books at any one time. He often returned to
previous reflections in subsequent notes, and rewrote extensive parts of the notebooks
in separate notepads.
The web-like, elliptical quality of the notebooks constitutes a significant chal-
lenge for translators of his work. It can also be problematic for a student seeking
to use a particular concept from Gramsci’s intellectual repertoire. While Gramsci’s
writing can be challenging, the form of the Prison Notebooks reveals his creativity
in maintaining his intellectual activity under harsh conditions of material scarcity,
psychological strain, and deteriorating health. Gramsci’s heroic intellectual work,
undertaken in defiance of fascism, is a form of political activism, in accordance
with his principles of engaged scholarship. Indeed, Gramsci was convinced that it
is the responsibility of intellectuals to contribute to the dissemination of political
thought and the education of the public. Combining as they do qualities of the
philosophical essay and the intellectual diary, rich in references both to previous
fragments by the author and various external texts (classics of literature, popular
novels, and current press alike), Gramsci’s notebooks call to mind in contemporary
terms a personal blog.
Gramsci reflected on questions related to language in several notes, most of which
are collected in Notebook 11 under the title ‘On the translatability of scientific and
philosophical languages’ (interestingly, out of the original thirty-three notebooks, four
were entirely dedicated to translation exercises). Gramsci’s reflections on language fall
under the academic fields of language policy (the role of dialects and the standard lan-
guage in shaping national identity), sociolinguistics (the historically shaped variants used
by groups from different class backgrounds), and philosophy of language (the question
of untranslatability between different linguistic systems). The reflections on translation
and translatability presented in the Prison Notebooks flow logically from Gramsci’s
understanding of language as such. While Gramsci was an eclectic thinker and did not
present a systematic analysis of any of these problems, his observations on the way cul-
tural and political realities shape language, and how in turn language interlinks with
ideology, were pioneering.
The originality of Gramsci’s approach to language and translation has attracted
scholars’ attention only relatively recently (ground-breaking publications include Lo
Piparo 1979; Boothman 2004; Ives 2004a; publications in the area of linguistics and
translation studies which recognise Gramsci’s role include: Wagner 2011; Carlucci
2013). Gramsci’s thought has influenced contemporary reflections on the culturally con-
ditioned nature of translation (an approach sometimes dubbed ‘cultural translation,’ i.e.
a type of translation which recognises and accounts for the culturally conditioned nature
of language on the level of words and entire texts—Trivedi 2007). It has been convin-
cingly argued that Gramsci influenced Ludwig Wittgenstein’s thinking about the nature
of language which found its expression in his ground-breaking Philosophical

14
 Theory, practice, activism

Investigations (1953). This influence was due to the mediation of the Italian economist,
Piero Sraffa, who knew both Gramsci and Wittgenstein (Sen 2003). The Investigations,
which emphasised the role of rules and conventions in meaning and sense making, were
critical in inspiring a strand of pragmatically oriented studies on language use in context
(Bach 2004; Hoenisch 2006).
Through the mediated impact of Gramsci’s thought on linguists as well as on the gen-
eral understanding of the link between culture and power in the areas of philosophy, pol-
itical sciences, cultural studies, and literature, Gramsci has stimulated the many
‘linguistic turns’ in twentieth-century social sciences and humanities (Ives 2004b: 12–32,
126–165). Certain themes from his notebooks have been also picked up by scholars
working in the field of (critical) discourse analysis, and incorporated into theories of
social representations in media, literature, and culture generally. In this sense, Gramsci is
a forerunner of modern approaches to translation which stress the agency of the transla-
tor in rendering text in a different language and in mediating between cultures (Bassnett
1998; Lefevere 2016).

Concepts of translation (and activism) in Gramsci

A number of differing accounts of translation and translatability in Gramsci have
been put forward in recent years (Frosini 2003; Boothman 2010; Gaboardi 2015).
Here I propose a typology of three meanings that can be ascribed to ‘translation’ in
Gramsci’s work (see also Wróblewska 2020; Briziarelli n.d. for an analogic three-
fold model): (1) translation between languages; (2) translation between paradigms;
and (3) translation between theory and action. This categorisation links translation to
political action.

Translation between languages

In its most literal sense, ‘translation’ means transferring meaning from one national lan-
guage to another. For Gramsci, translation never consists in simply rendering words or
sentences in a different language, but always requires mediating between entire cultures
(Gramsci 1994: 207). When writing of translation between languages Gramsci often puts
the name of the language in quotation marks, indicating that the word (for instance
‘French’ or ‘Italian’) stands for a broader reality which has been shaped in the course of
historical processes and which represents cultures that often differ materially and eco-
nomically (Gramsci 1995/1999: 450–451).

Translation between paradigms

The second understanding of ‘translation’ in Gramsci’s thought is connected to
transmission from one paradigm into another. Such translation can take a variety of
forms: ‘translation’ may signify rendering theories created within one national cul-
ture in the language of another culture, each of which will be shaped by its own
unique historical and economic development (linking back to the first understanding
of translation). For example, Gramsci criticised the inability of the philosopher Giu-
seppe Ferrari to translate from ‘French’ social theory to the ‘Italian’ (Gramsci
1992: 140), as the latter existed in the context of a society which was economically
and politically less advanced. In order to be effective, a translator must exploit

15
Marta Natalia Wróblewska

parallels between the source and the target culture, taking into account their differ-
ent points of development.
Translating between paradigms may also refer to scholarly paradigms. In a famous
remark, Gramsci noted ironically that some philosophers and scholars tend to use
‘their own Esperanto’ and believe that ‘everything that is not expressed in their lan-
guage is a delirium, a prejudice, a superstition’ (Gramsci 1995/1999: 447). ‘Lan-
guage’ stands here for a professional jargon, rooted in the professions’ theories and
values. An analogy can be drawn with contemporary academia, in which context dif-
ferent schools of thought and disciplines have developed their own parlance to
a degree which sometimes makes them hermetic and in need of ‘translation’ in order
to be understood. Gramsci praised some scholars contemporary to him for their ability
to translate between the methodologies of different disciplines. For instance, in his
view philosopher and mathematician Giovanni Vailati was able to translate between
geometry and algebra, between hedonism and Kantian morals, and between normative
and applied economics, while political economist Achille Loria could express an eco-
nomic argument using the ‘language’ of Adam Smith, Ricardo, or Marx (Gramsci
1995/1999: 452).
Translation between paradigms may refer to translation between different scholarly
methods. Gramsci argues that on a basic theoretical level ‘translation’ must be possible
within the triad philosophy–politics–economy (Gramsci 1971/1999: 745). He asks for
instance whether ‘Machiavelli’s essentially political language can be translated into eco-
nomic terms, and if so, in which economic system it could be reduced’ (Gramsci 1971/
1999: 346). This understanding of translation may seem distant from the literal meaning
of the term, but actually it only takes one step further the recognition, present already in
the previously mentioned examples, that linguistic practices reflect the cultural, social,
and political conditions of a given era, and therefore that one can identify homologies
between them (Briziarelli, n.d.: 3).

Translation between theory and action

In keeping with his Marxist convictions, Gramsci was not interested in pure theory. He
strived to apply theory to political reality. His ‘philosophy of praxis’ aimed to unite the-
oretical thought and practical applications. Hence, the third meaning of ‘translation’ in
Gramsci relates to translation between theory and practice, that is translating speculative
philosophy into a philosophy of praxis. Gramsci equated philosophy and politics, thought
and action, when he wrote: ‘everything is political, even philosophy or philosophies …
and the only “philosophy” is history in action, that is, life itself’ (Gramsci 1971/1999:
676). The relationship between thought (theory) and practice (particularly political strat-
egies and techniques) can be conceptualised as the third category in Gramsci’s theory of
translation.
This understanding is of course closely connected to the previous category—translating
between paradigms or structurally analogous socio-political contexts. Thus, a theory must first
be expressed in a ‘language’ adequate to the reality of a given historical moment (character-
ised by particular material conditions of production, or, in terms of classical Marxism, by the
material base), before it can become a point of reference for political action and struggle.
Gramsci reflects on the relationship between practice and theoretical ideas when he writes that
all philosophies are born not from former philosophies but from real social developments. He
concludes that:

16
 Theory, practice, activism

every truth, even if it is universal and even if it can be expressed by an abstract

formula of a mathematical kind (for the sake of theoreticians) owes its effectiveness
to its being expressed in the language appropriate to the specific concrete circum-
stances. If it cannot be expressed in specific terms, it is a Byzantine and scholastic
abstraction, good only for phrase mongers to toy with.
(Gramsci 1971/1999: 437–438)

If the evolution of speculative philosophy into a philosophy of praxis can be considered

the ultimate scope of Gramsci’s project of social emancipation, we see that this level of
translation must necessarily be based on two previous steps. In reverse conceptual order
these are: (1) the translation of notions and ideas from a specific source reality into
a specific target reality, often requiring (2) the translation of a particular text between
two languages.

The concept of historical bloc and activism

An influential Gramscian concept which is helpful in theorising the relation between
translation and activism is ‘historical bloc,’ which refers to Gramsci’s unique take on the
previously mentioned Marxist dyad of base and superstructure. Rejecting mechanistic
and static accounts of the relationship between underlying economic realities and the
social attitudes and cultural phenomena which they shape, Gramsci argued for an under-
standing of the two spheres as mutually dependent.
Gramsci wrote: ‘Structures and superstructures form a “historical bloc.” That is to say
the complex, contradictory and discordant ensemble of the superstructures is the reflec-
tion of the ensemble of the social relations of production.’ He continued to argue that
there exists a ‘necessary reciprocity between structure and superstructures, a reciprocity
which is nothing other than the real dialectical process’ (Gramsci 1971/1999: 366). As
an example of the practical implications of this mutual link between the base and super-
structure, Gramsci stated that traditional politics usually lags behind economic processes
—precisely because it belongs to the sphere of superstructure which is, in traditional
Marxist theory, dependent on the hard economic base. However, he argued for the possi-
bility of a different kind of politics, which can consciously address economic realities,
giving rise to a ‘new, homogenous politico-economic historical bloc’ (Gramsci 1971/
1999: 167–168). The realisation of the mutual, dialectical relationship between base and
superstructure is linked to a recognition of the unity of theory and practice, of the broad
social masses and those responsible for the production of politics, of ideas—the intellec-
tuals. On the level of theoretical reflection, the consequence of admitting the concept of
historical bloc is that individual notions, constellations of ideas or facts cannot be under-
stood on their own, in isolation—on the contrary, they must be perceived as historically
conditioned, set in a broader social context and always dynamically evolving as part of
a ‘totality’ (Jay 1984; Boothman 2017).
The concept of historical bloc has been used by Gramsci scholars in a narrower
sense, to denote a particular social constellation of powers, marked by ‘a historical con-
gruence between material forces, institutions and ideologies, or broadly, an alliance of
different class forces’ (Gill and Law 1993: 93–94). The concept of ‘historical bloc’ sug-
gests that, for social change to take place, it is not enough for the material, economic
conditions (the ‘base’ in Marxist terms) to change, but that a shift must also occur on
the level of ideas and concepts. This development would normally be initiated by the

17
Marta Natalia Wróblewska

‘organic intellectuals’—that is, an intellectual elite which emerges as a sub-group of any

social group which is striving towards dominance, giving this group a ‘homogeneity and
awareness of its own function’ (Gramsci 1971/1999: 5, 10). These ideas and concepts
would later be taken up and put into practice by other classes, leading to a new structure
of power, a new hegemony.
Against this background, translation performed on the first two of the above-
described levels (between languages and paradigms) intervenes into the existing power
relations and alters the composition of the historical bloc. Hence it may constitute a case
of theory as praxis, or translation in the third of the discussed meanings of the term.
While in his writings Gramsci does not explicitly cast translation as a form of activism,
one can see how this connection emerges from the core notions of his thinking.
A neat example of translation understood in Gramsci’s terms can be found in his own
translations. In translating the Grimm tales from German into Italian, Gramsci eliminated
references to Christian faith and transferred the stories into the context of his native Sar-
dinian countryside. Such was Gramsci’s attempt to tell the same tales while transplanting
them into a different cultural context (Borghese 2010: 148–155). In this instance,
a rendering of a text in a different language mediates between two different national
contexts (the first level of ‘translation’). At the same time, a rendering of a story rooted
in Catholic morality in the context of a more universal ethics is also a translation
between paradigms (the second level of ‘translation’). Such a translation provides
a consciously lay instruction to the younger generation.
The idea of education was fundamentally linked to that of hegemony, as according to
Gramsci every hegemonic relationship is necessarily ‘an educational relationship and
occurs … in the international and worldwide field, between complexes of national and
continental civilisations’ (Gramsci 1971/1999: 666). Hence, Gramsci’s liberated transla-
tions of the Grimm fairy tales belong also to the third category of translation: theory
translated into practice.

Translating Gramsci—a comparative view

In an attempt to connect translation and activism, and to exemplify how the three levels
of Gramscian translation can illuminate contemporary contexts, I will turn, once again,
to the example of his own work—namely the shape in which Gramsci’s notebooks have
reached readers in three different linguistic contexts. I will show how these texts can
either challenge the existing hegemonic structure of power, or on the contrary, how they
contribute to reinforcing it. Whichever it may be, the notebooks constitute an interven-
tion into the historical bloc. I will focus here on examples from three quite different
publishing markets: the Italian, the Anglo-Saxon, and the Polish one.
A student browsing through the existing editions of the Prison Notebooks in Ital-
ian, English, and Polish would reach the conclusion that Gramsci ‘speaks’ very differ-
ently—and to different audiences—in each of these languages. This is due to the
contexts that have shaped the politics of translation, editing, commentary, and critique
over the course of the past decades. The reshaping of Gramsci’s texts by editors and
translators was made possible by the very form of the core of Gramsci’s theoretical
writings, particularly their division into a web-like structure of loose yet intercon-
nected notes of different length. Below, I discuss the shape which the notebooks took
in three different countries, linking their linguistic features to characteristics of the
relevant political contexts.

18
 Theory, practice, activism

Italian: Gramsci liberated

The division of the notebooks into separate interconnected notes was problematic already
for the editors of their first Italian edition. Work on it commenced shortly after World
War II and was personally supervised by Palmiro Togliatti, Gramsci’s comrade and
leader of the Italian Communist Party (who however is not listed among the editors; see
Daniele 2005). The first Italian edition of the notebooks, edited by Felice Platone (Gram-
sci 1948–51), reordered Gramsci’s notes, grouping them into thematic sections, rendering
the text more accessible for a non-specialised reader. Furthermore, fragments of the ori-
ginal notebooks were censored or manipulated to fit the party agenda: for instance, posi-
tive remarks on Trotsky (a leader of the Soviet Communist Party, later exiled for
opposing Stalinist rule) were removed, as were negative comments about Engels and
internal Soviet politics. These choices were all linked to the Communist Party’s ambition
to construct an image of Gramsci as its symbolic leader, a monumental hero: dedicated
husband and father (as evident from his equally hastily published, and also partly
manipulated, Letters from Prison (Lettere dal carcere) (1947)), and brilliant intellectual,
whose arguments were to provide a firm foundation of current party line. That the
volume was published by the prestigious Italian publisher, Einaudi, and not one belong-
ing to the party, gave a clear signal that Gramsci was not only a left-wing intellectual;
he was also a modern Italian intellectual par excellence.
The first edition of Gramsci’s writings, although accessible to the general public due
to the convenient re-ordering of the notes under thematic headings, was criticised by
scholars for violating the original ‘organic’ form of the philosopher’s writings and for
containing several ‘ideologisations’ and ‘mummifications’ (Bermani 1991). In 1964,
Togliatti himself admitted that his methodology while working on Gramsci’s manuscript
was exceedingly cautious, due to the ‘Stalinist times’ (Bermani 1991). A request for
a critical, unabridged, and unbiased edition of Gramsci’s writings which would ‘liberate’
his thought paved the way for a new edition, a project carried out by the same publisher
under the editorship of Valentino Garratana (Gramsci 1975). This edition was based on
a careful re-reading and transcription of the original hand-written notebooks. Words
which were previously altered as they were considered a code used by Gramsci (for
instance ‘philosophy of praxis’ would stand simply for ‘Marxism’) were rendered in
their original form, censored fragments were reinstated, and original orthography was
used, even where this meant using antique forms. The notes were reproduced as in the
original notebooks and assigned numbers (e.g. Q1§1 stands for notebook 1, note 1) to
facilitate cross-referencing and consultation of the original. In the footnotes, the editors
meticulously indicate crossed-out or illegible words, or Gramsci’s notes to himself such
as vedere (check), cercare il punto (find the exact place), cfr (confront). Additionally,
abundant footnotes provide editors’ expert comments and explanations. This ambitious
editorial project testifies to a completely new vision of Gramsci’s legacy. No longer is
he figured as an exponent of one strand of thought (communism) and a near-
contemporary of the editors and readers. Instead, he is one of the great minds of Italian
philosophy, whose words deserve to be reproduced and studied with painstaking care. In
later years, the advent of digital technologies has made possible the publication of the
notebooks in accessible formats: first as a CD-ROM in 2007 (Gramsci 2007b), followed
by the excellent online gramsciproject.org, established in 2012, which enables any reader
to easily cross-check different notes (Filippini 2016). In the future, another website may
reproduce the original, digitalised Notebooks (currently accessible only at Gramsci’s

19
Marta Natalia Wróblewska

family home in Ghilarza or as a travelling exhibition). The scrupulous approach of the

editors of the second Italian edition and the attention conferred by Gramsci scholars
around the world to every detail of his writings have cast the Prison Notebooks almost
as a sacred text.
The history of the successive Italian editions shows how Gramsci’s work was initially
manipulated in the service of a political agenda to later become liberated, testifying to
the multivalent legacies of the original work. At the same time, the scholarly apparatus
of the second edition makes the text less accessible to a non-specialised reader, thus ren-
dering Gramsci’s work somewhat remote for many activists.

English: Gramsci’s plural voice

The shape and character of two Italian editions have obviously influenced the English
translations of the Prison Notebooks. There are no less than five edited selections from
the notebooks in English.
The first two appeared the same year, 1957, in the British and American market
respectively. Both were based on the first Italian edition. Besides reproducing the biases
contained in the Italian original, the translators also partly re-shaped the texts according
to their own political agendas. The first American selection from the Notebooks carries
the title The Open Marxism of Antonio Gramsci (Gramsci 1957b) and was translated by
Carl Marzani, an interesting figure who had worked as an American intelligence officer,
a left-wing activist, and the head of a left-wing publishing house, Marzani & Munsell.
The publication is rather odd in its shape: Gramsci’s original text was translated only in
fragments (sentences or even entire paragraphs are omitted). The notes are rearranged
rather freely and information on source paragraphs is not provided. Words or phrases
which the translator deemed ‘esoteric’ for the American reader were removed or
‘decoded’ to be replaced with what the translator considered to be synonyms (Marzani
1957). Finally, Gramsci’s text is interwoven with editor’s notes, which often link the
content of the notes to current political affairs and debates within contemporary Ameri-
can politics. This curious approach gives the text the feeling of a political pamphlet,
which uses Gramsci’s authority to reinforce the translator’s personal opinions. This trans-
lational methodology caused the text to age quickly, since many of its allusions are no
longer current.
The year in which Marzani published Open Marxism in the US, a similar compilation
of Gramsci’s writings, including a selection of notes from the Prison Notebooks,
appeared in Great Britain—The Modern Prince and other Writings, translated by Louis
Marks (Gramsci 1957a). The section containing a selection from the Prison Notebooks is
preceded by a biographical introduction and includes explanatory footnotes by the trans-
lator. Although The Modern Prince is a more rigorous edition than Open Marxism (for
instance it follows the original division into notes), like Marzani, Marks modified some
of the expressions originally used by Gramsci, for instance decoding ‘philosophy of
action’ as ‘Marxism.’ While the volume was instrumental in drawing attention to the
figure of Gramsci in Great Britain, it cannot but seem to be an approximate translation,
which glosses over or distorts certain notions which were to become foundational to
Gramscian scholarship, such as the concept of praxis.
The late 1960s and 1970s witnessed a wave of interest in the figure and thought of
Gramsci. In the UK, this can be partly attributed to the popularity of a theatrical play
produced in 1971 by the Royal Shakespeare Company, which included Gramsci among

20
 Theory, practice, activism

its protagonists (Boothman 2004–2005). This point is interesting for our argument, as it
demonstrates how a rendering of a body of work into a completely different language
(drama, instead of philosophical argument) can contribute to the dissemination of an
idea, and, in consequence, also affect practice. In this case, a newly found curiosity for
Gramsci’s work amongst the Anglophone public paved the way for the publication of
the third Anglophone edition of Gramsci’s work: the Selections from the Prison Note-
books (Gramsci 1971/1999) which constituted for many years the main point of refer-
ence for those wanting to study Gramsci, as well as the Letters from Prison (an
American edition published in 1973, a new British one in 1974 (1988), followed by
a ‘definitive’ edition in 1994). Each of these successive editions greatly contributed to
the awareness of Gramsci’s dramatic life and his personality.
Since the Selections from the Prison Notebooks, translated by Quintin Hoare and
Geoffrey Nowell-Smith, was published four years before the publication of the critical
Italian edition, the organisation of the text followed the earlier one, with the notes
grouped into thematic sections. The Selections were a carefully prepared edition, with
abundant explanations provided by the translators—both scholars of Gramsci’s work and
Italian culture. In response to comments submitted by readers and commentators, certain
inaccuracies and omissions present in the first edition were gradually addressed in the
several ensuing ones. The Selections focused mainly on Gramsci’s writings on social and
political issues. To address an interest in Gramsci’s work on culture and language which
continued to grow over the following decade, the Lawrence & Wishart publishing house
decided to publish a selection of notes under the title Selections from Cultural Writings
(Gramsci 1985), selected, edited, and translated by a highly qualified team of specialists
in the areas of Gramsci’s work and of translation: William Boelhower, David Forgacs,
and Geoffrey Nowell-Smith.
1995 brought the publication of Further Selections from the Prison Notebooks, pre-
pared by Derek Boothman, a scholar who has studied extensively the topic of translation
in Gramsci’s work as well as the various translations of his works. This edition comple-
ments the Selections (1971), as it includes previously omitted notes on religion, educa-
tion, and economics. Importantly for the present chapter, it includes the notes devoted to
the translatability of scientific and philosophical languages. Unlike the previous Selec-
tions (1971) and Cultural Writings (1985), published with Lawrence & Wishart, Further
Selections (1995) used the system of numeration of notes, allowing the reader to cross-
reference the original with ease.
By the mid-1990s, most of the Prison Notebooks had been translated into English by
different translators and according to different thematic constellations. The lack of clear
numeration of notes in most of the published translations considerably hindered cross-
referencing of the translations, reconstructing the position of particular notes in the entir-
ety of the notebooks or consultation with the original. The work of creating a ‘definite’
translation, which would reproduce the order of the second, critical Italian edition of
1975, and which would take stock of decades of debates on Gramsci’s thought and lexi-
con, was undertaken by Joseph A. Buttigieg. The result was a three-volume edition of
the Notebooks, complete with an introduction and extensive notes (Gramsci 1992, 1996,
2007a; also re-published as a three-volume set: Gramsci 2011).
An overview of the English translations of the Notebooks produced in the span of
half a century reveals much about changing attitudes to translation as well as the evolv-
ing interpretation of Gramsci’s oeuvre in relation to the history of philosophy and polit-
ical thought. While the first editions make a somewhat instrumental use of Gramsci’s

21
Marta Natalia Wróblewska

work, casting it as a convenient commentary to current political debates, subsequent

ones emphasise the global significance of the Prison Notebooks; the final edition is rem-
iniscent of editions of religious texts, in its meticulous and reverent attitude to the
source. The many superseding editions and translations, together with reviews and com-
mentaries by Gramsci scholars, testify to the vibrancy of the debate on Gramsci’s
thought amongst the public on both sides of the Atlantic and to the huge effort of the
translators, all of whom were also keen readers of Gramsci.
In conclusion, we may say that an Anglophone reader can access a wide variety of
translations of the Prison Notebooks. This situation facilitates an awareness of Gramsci’s
many voices. The proliferation of Gramsciana generates a variety of paths through
which the Prison Notebooks can be read: from accessible publications for those wishing
to be acquainted with Gramsci for the first time (Gramsci 2000) to the monumental crit-
ical edition for specialists.

Polish: Gramsci, the dead classic

There are two Polish translations of Gramsci’s Notebooks, neither of which carries the
title Prison Notebooks. The first edition, entitled Pisma wybrane (Selected Writings) was
published in 1961 in two volumes. It is a compilation of Gramsci’s writings based on
the first Italian edition, combined with selected letters and an essay on the Southern
Question (1949). In the Polish edition, the paragraph and notebook numbers are not
listed (not even in the table of contents, as had been done in the corresponding Italian
edition). This confers on the text an illusion of uniformity, even though the original char-
acter of the Notebooks is explained in the introduction. Otherwise, the edition follows
quite closely the choices of the Italian editors, for example with the inclusion of
a glossary of Gramsci’s ‘codes.’
When the first Polish translation of the Notebooks appeared, Poland was a communist
state with an official ideologically driven policy of publishing: translations of works by
Marxist authors were commissioned with prominent specialists and published with great
care by national publishing houses. This enabled a very early (1950) publication of
Gramsci’s Letters from Prison (Listy z więzienia) prepared by prestigious leftist literary
publisher Czytelnik. The Polish edition of the Notebooks (1961) was among the first in
the world; selections from the text appeared in print earlier only in Serbo-Croat (1951),
Spanish (1958), and Russian (1959). The Notebooks were published by Książka
i Wiedza, a publishing house with leftist traditions dating back to the pre-World War II
period. It was the fifth book to appear in the prestigious series Biblioteka myśli socjalis-
tycznej (Library of Socialist Thought). The notes to be included were selected by Ludo-
vico Tulli, translator of Polish literature into Italian, in consultation with specialists from
the Gramsci Institute in Rome. The translation was entrusted to the distinguished literary
translator Barbara Sieroszewska and the support of several leading Polish intellectuals is
acknowledged in the foreword.
The second Polish edition, published in 1991, and based on Garratana’s critical edi-
tion, is entitled Zeszyty filozoficzne (Philosophical Notebooks). It was published as part
of another prestigious series: Biblioteka Klasyków Filozofii PWN (Library of the Clas-
sics of Philosophy of the Polish National Scientific Publishers). A major change between
the two editions is the organisation of the text. In the second edition, the organisation
finally follows the structure originally given to it by Gramsci, i.e. it is divided into sep-
arate (numerated) paragraphs and not merged into one seemingly uniform text.

22
 Theory, practice, activism

The editor of the second Polish edition, Sław Krzemień-Ojak (the author of one of the
two monographs on Gramsci in Polish), deemed that the first translation was accurate
enough to be reprinted after thirty years from its first publication. The paragraphs trans-
lated earlier by Sieroszewska were included in the new edition with only small amend-
ments and were complemented with fragments published for the first time, translated by
Joanna Szymanowska.
In effect, though there are two Polish editions of the Notebooks, one published thirty
years after the other, we can effectively speak of a single translation executed by one
translator and later seamlessly complemented by another. The only differences between
the two editions are minor editorial ones and even these can be usually attributed to
alterations in the source text, and not to changes in the style or policy of translation or
shifts in the interpretation of particular Gramscian notions. Furthermore, the editors did
not seize the opportunity to correct mistranslations or linguistic slips present in the first
version (for examples, see Wróblewska 2020).
While being well-known experts in the field of Italian literature, Sieroszewska and
Szymanowska, the Polish translators of the Prison Notebooks, are not specialists in the
field of Marxism, or radical theory in general, in contrast to the English-language trans-
lators, who are all avid readers and recognised commentators on Gramsci. The English
editions of the Notebooks, as we have seen, all include introductions and notes from the
translators, which is not the case with the Polish editions, in which the translators
remain largely invisible. In the Polish editions, it is the editors who play the role of the
readers’ guides to Gramsci’s thought.
In the contemporary Polish intellectual panorama, Gramsci remains a rather distant
intellectual figure, ‘a classic’ rather than a relevant voice in current philosophical and
political discussions. The existing translations of the Prison Notebooks seem to reinforce
such an approach. The first edition casts him as a classic of Marxist thought, the second
as a classic philosopher tout court. This framing of Gramsci’s work seems to be
a conscious choice on the part of the editors. In the introduction to the second Polish
edition we read that, although Gramsci’s work has been a topic of intellectual reflection
worldwide for decades, currently interest in his work has diminished:

everything has been published, every detail of his biography has been studied, all his-
torical material exhausted, all possible variants of interpretation tried out … and while
for decades [Gramsci] has been part of the living tradition, he has now been shifted to
the area of respected legacy … This is how we present him in the current edition.
(Krzemień-Ojak 1991)

After the Polish economic transformation of 1989, all theory associated with the socialist
regime became suspect and was scrapped from university education programmes.
Thinkers associated with the left quickly became intellectually unfashionable. In conse-
quence, academic traditions of Marxist reflection were abandoned, and scholars often
hastily concealed traces of engagement with leftist theory from their resumes. These his-
torical circumstances cast light on the above-cited words from the introduction to
the second Polish edition of Gramsci’s Notebooks. It is quite likely that the project of
a new edition of Gramsci’s writings had been initiated before the Polish economic trans-
formation of 1989, but the volume appeared on the market when it was clear that the
communist regime has been dismantled and that any presentation of Gramsci as a classic
must come with a proviso.

23
Marta Natalia Wróblewska

In conclusion, while we can say that Garratana’s critical edition of 1975 enables
Gramsci to speak in his own voice, and the many existing English translations allow
readers to hear the author’s multiple voices, mixed sometimes with those of the trans-
lators, in Polish Gramsci’s words are distant, muted, and at times distorted. The very
shape of the two editions of the Notebooks (hard-cover elegant volumes) and the venue
of their publication (in ‘classics’ series) cast the author as a historical thinker rather than
a theorist whose ideas can invigorate contemporary politics.

Progressive activism in Poland—why we are losing and can

Gramsci help?
In contemporary Poland, a large majority of the young generation supports right-wing
political parties and movements, which often capitalise on a strong and crude anti-
communist component—in the parliamentary election of 2015, over 60% of voters aged
under 30 cast their votes for right-wing parties (Winiewski et al. 2015: 2). According to
one common hypothesis (Kozłowski 2015), this tendency can be attributed to the fact
that the young generation doesn’t have any other ‘language’ in which to voice their dis-
satisfaction and develop a critique of current social and political conditions, including
their experienced relative deprivation (Winiewski et al. 2015: 9–10) apart from the dom-
inant right-wing nationalist and xenophobic one. At the same time, leftist movements
find themselves without a common symbolic framework: postmodern currents, popular
in academia, are perceived by the wider public as overly complex and abstract, while
classical Marxist theory is strongly associated with the previous system and its flaws.
During the last decade, the nationalist agenda has gained many endorsers in intellec-
tual circles. There emerged an entire intellectual environment composed of journalists,
writers, and academics who enthusiastically support nationalist tendencies within society
by developing its theoretical base. The historical-political reflection these authors put for-
ward often bears traces of conspiracy theory, including linking all progressive political
movements (feminism, LGBT+ rights, ecology) to communism, which in post-
communist Poland is an accusation not to be taken lightly. With the boom in ‘patriotic’
publishing (popular and academic books, weekly magazines) and intellectual events
(debates, exhibitions), far-right nationalism gained a certain intellectual legitimacy. At
the same time, audio-visual production, such as patriotic films, music, and the rise of
a merchandise industry (nationalist-themed t-shirts, gadgets) ensured the proliferation of
symbols of the nationalist agenda in popular culture. From a theoretical perspective, this
alliance between academics, intellectuals, and the broader public has taken the form of
what Gramsci referred to as ‘historical bloc.’
Can Gramsci’s ‘open Marxism’ become a reference point in political debates and
struggles over hegemony in contemporary Poland? Could a new edition of Gramsci’s
works constitute an intervention into the historical bloc? A lack of contemporary publi-
cations on Gramsci’s thought certainly hinders the enterprise of re-introducing his voice
into intellectual debate. A strategy of bringing back Gramsci’s thought to Poland, not
just for the purposes of historical scholarship, but as a valuable voice on urgent contem-
porary issues, can build on the Gramscian classification of levels of translation presented
in the first part of this chapter.
On the level of translation between languages, a new, accurate, and well-researched
edition of Gramsci’s essential writings would be necessary for reviving Gramsci’s
legacy. On the level of translating paradigms, a critical introduction or commentary

24
 Theory, practice, activism

would help clarify Gramsci’s concepts, express them in a language relevant for the stage
of societal development in which Poland currently finds itself, and relate such reflections
to current political problems, such as the rise of the hegemonic nationalist discourse.
Such a postulated new translation may encompass more than just a publication, and the
book itself wouldn’t necessarily have to be a typical scholarly hard-back edition. The
publication could draw on the possibilities offered by technology (following the example
of several international online projects dedicated to Gramsci) and new editing trends.
A multimodal publication, a comic book, a Twitter account, and an open-access e-book
with an online forum for debates are all options.
Finally, on the third level, that of translating theory into practice, a Gramscian reflec-
tion on the current hegemony of nationalist thought and imagery in Polish politics and
the role of the unity of the ‘historical bloc’ (intellectuals and broader society united
around a set of symbols representing values) could inspire those supporting progressive
movements to strive towards a united front, one which would also build on an appropri-
ate set of symbols, including elements of popular culture. For Gramsci’s voice on con-
temporary issues to be heard in contemporary language, his thought would have to be
translated on all three of the above-described levels. While it may be excessively opti-
mistic to expect that ‘translating’ Gramsci in any of the above-discussed levels would
significantly affect the current state of affairs, such an undertaking could disrupt the
composition of the currently dominant historical bloc.

From translation theory to activist practice: personal reflection

and conclusions
In this concluding section, I wish to briefly reflect on my own work as translator, intel-
lectual, and activist, in the light of Gramsci’s theory of translation, introduced above.
The last decade has been for me the time of intellectual and political coming of age,
which happened to take place in a period characterised by growing hostility towards the
values and theories I cherish the most. A pressing need developed for me to understand
the social processes at work: the consolidation of nationalist attitudes amongst my peers
and the disavowal of women’s and minorities’ rights which had previously seemed to
have been well secured. I reflected extensively on these topics in my academic and
partly academic publications.
I also translated into Polish authors whom, I believed, could offer important insights
into the current state of affairs. These included the feminist Shulamith Firestone, whose
observations on the impact of biology on the position of women in society seemed
oddly timely four decades after the publication of her The Dialectic of Sex. All this fran-
tic reading, thinking, commenting, writing, and translating did not bear the expected
fruit. Despite some modest scholarly recognition, few readers reacted outside my own
intellectual circle. I discovered, to my dismay, that my translation of Firestone was being
used as a reference in papers written from ultra-conservative positions, to illustrate the
so-called madness of feminist theory. Disappointed, for a while I abandoned this engaged
strand of my work, returning to critical theory.
After a while however, passively observing the spreading of nationalistic, xenophobic,
misogynistic symbols and slogans in the media, in popular culture, and in public spaces
(posters, graffiti, sticker art) became impossible. Compelled to react in a way which
would have tangible effects, I turned this time to a different repertoire to express myself.
Blog posts constituted one channel: I wrote in Polish about the concept of

25
Marta Natalia Wróblewska

‘mansplaining,’ suggesting a suitable Polish translation for the term and denouncing the
practice of organising ‘manels’ [all-male panels], which are usually considered a non-
issue in Poland. Satirising the surge of popular ‘identity’ clothing, featuring ‘patriotic’
(often anti-communist, anti-EU) symbols, I produced a t-shirt with the logo of one of
the largest workers’ cooperatives from the time of People’s Poland. To mark the Polish
Day of Independence (11.11), which is often an occasion for demonstrations verging on
xenophobia and always a celebration of uniquely male heroes and role-models,
I produced, together with a collective of female friends, two forms of simple artwork.
We created a zine featuring the female and feminist heroes of Polish history as well as
a set of stickers with progressive slogans, intended to be used oppositionally in public
spaces to cover up hateful messages against minorities and migrants (for further details
on these interventions see Christensen et al. 2018: 871–874).
These improvised micro-interventions stimulated an animated response. My blogs and
tweets on ‘mansplaining’ and ‘manels’ provoked comments and gave rise to online dis-
cussions, my ‘People’s Poland’ t-shirt stirred up conversations also amongst strangers,
and I have handed out many sets of ‘progressive’ stickers and even received requests for
the sticker templates from activist groups in other cities which had requested them in
order to print their sets. It was interesting to see that these little bits of writing, produced
impromptu and in a playful spirit (quite different from the continuous strain and stress
of academic work) were actually more effective in drawing attention to the issues
I found pressing than my scholarly publications. It was almost as if the further away
from academic writing my intervention was, the more powerful; the less verbose, the
more widely it was read. That said, these activist moments could not have taken place,
were it not for the theoretical moments which preceded them: my awareness and under-
standing of the current state of political affairs, and my urge to intervene were fuelled
by my theoretical, academic background.
How can these small acts of web or urban activism be reframed in terms of Gramsci’s
theory of translation? Referring to the first level of translation—translation as mediating
between languages and cultures—I would see my engagement in translating feminist
theory (Firestone), but also concepts such as ‘mansplaining’ and ‘manel’ as an effort to
situate international progressive thought within the conditions of Polish culture. In doing
so, I used a language which was not overly rooted in arcane feminist theories and did
not assume the readers’ progressive views. In short, I translated in a way that would be
adequate to the particular stage of social development that we currently find ourselves
in. Referring to the second level of translation in Gramsci’s theory, my efforts to com-
municate my ideas in more popular formats, which would not alienate those who are not
familiar with academic genres or who find fashionable scholarly jargon too abstract or
off-putting, can be considered as an attempt to translate some of the feminist, progres-
sive concepts I have been working with into a different, more accessible paradigm.
Finally, given the activist and collaborative spirit in which these interventions were pro-
duced, they may be seen as an attempt to translate theory into practice, situating them-
selves on the third level of translation.
Being a translator under the conditions of contemporary capitalism, where we are
constantly battling against deadlines as well as against challenges brought by technol-
ogy and globalisation, often leaves little space for us to reflect on our social responsi-
bilities. Translators are rarely recognised as scholars, activists, and intellectuals and
even more rarely are they rewarded for their contributions to the critique of culture.
And yet, Gramsci’s example—his inspired work, as well as his heroic life—testifies

26
 Theory, practice, activism

to the necessity of conceiving of our work within its broadest possible social and pol-
itical contexts, particularly in adverse times. If we do not think of our work as an
intervention, however small, into the historical bloc our work will remain, in Grams-
ci’s words, ‘a Byzantine and scholastic abstraction, good only for phrase mongers to
toy with.’

Related topics
Activist Translation, Alliances and Performativity; Translators as Organic Intellectuals;
Thought/Translation.

Further reading
Carlucci, Alessandro (2013) Gramsci and Languages. Unification, Diversity, Hegemony. Chicago:
Haymarket Books.
A recent and thorough discussion of the importance of language in Gramsci’s bibliography and his
work.
Gramsci, Antonio (1975) Quaderni del carcere. Ed. Valentino Garratana. Torino: Einaudi.
Critical edition of the Prison Notebooks in Italian, scroupolously prepared by a team of expert editors
from the Istituto Gramsci in Turin. Includes ample annotations, which however avoid giving a single
interpretation of the notes.
Gramsci, Antonio (2011) Prison Notebooks, Vol. 1–3. Trans. Joseph Buttigieg. New York: Columbia
University Press.
Critical edition of the Prison Notebooks in English, widely considered the ‘ultimate’ English transla-
tion, complete with insightful introduction and extensively annotated.
Lo Piparo, Franco (1979) Lingua, intellettuali, egemonia in Gramsci. Bari: Laterza.
First publication drawing attention to the importance of language in Gramsci’s thought.

References
Bach, Kent (2004) ‘Pragmatics and the Philosophy of Language,’ in The Handbook of Pragmatics.
Eds. Laurence R. Horn and Gregory L. Ward. Oxford: Blackwell. 463–487.
Bassnett, Susan (1998) ‘The Translation Turn in Cultural Studies,’ in Constructing Cultures: Essays
on Literary Translation. Eds. Susan Bassnett and André Lefevere. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
123–140.
Bermani, Cesare (1991) ‘Il Gramsci di Togliatti e il Gramsci liberato,’ in L’impegno 9 (2) [online].
Available at: www.storia900bivc.it/pagine/editoria/bermani291.html [accessed 27 July 2019].
Boothman, Derek (2004) Traducibilità e processi traduttivi. Un caso: A. Gramsci linguista. Perugia:
Guerra.
Boothman, Derek (2004–2005) ‘Le traduzioni di Gramsci in inglese e la loro ricezione nel mondo
anglofono,’ in inTRAlinea 7 [online]. Available at: www.intralinea.org/archive/article/Le_traduzio
ni_di_Gramsci_in_inglese [accessed 27 July 2019].
Boothman, Derek (2010) ‘Translation and Translatability: Renewal of the Marxist Paradigm,’ in
Gramsci, Language and Translation. Eds. Peter Ives and Rocco Lacorte. Lanham: Lexington
Books. 107–133.
Boothman, Derek (2017) ‘Gramsci’s Historical Bloc: Structure, Hegemony and Dialectical Interactions,’
Movimento-revista de educação 6: 131–150.

27
Marta Natalia Wróblewska

Borghese, Lucia (2010) ‘Aunt Alene on Her Bicycle: Antonio Gramsci as Translator from German
and as Translation Theorist,’ in Gramsci, Language and Translation. Eds. Peter Ives and
Rocco Lacorte. Lanham: Lexington Books. 135–169.
Briziarelli, Marco (n.d.) ‘The Translation of Politics and Politics of Translation: Gramsci and the
Philosophy of Communicative Praxis.’ Working Paper [online]. Available at: www.academia.edu/
29298902/The_translation_of_politics_and_politics_of_translation_Gramsci_and_the_Philoso
phy_of_Communicative_Praxis [accessed 27 July 2019].
Carlucci, Alessandro (2013) Gramsci and Languages. Unification, Diversity, Hegemony. Chicago:
Haymarket Books.
Christensen, Jannick Friis, Sarah Anne Dunne, Melissa Suzanne Fisher, Alexander Fleischmann,
Mary Mcgill, Florence Villesèche, and Marta Natalia Wróblewska (2018) ‘Powerful Writing as
Writing “with”,’ Ephemera—Theory and Politics in Organization 18: 865–879.
Daniele, Chiara (2005) Togliatti editore di Gramsci. Rome: Carocci Editore.
Filippini, Michele (2016) ‘Gramsciproject.org: una «digital library» semantica per nuovi percorsi di
ricerca,’ Studi culturali 2: 259–272.
Firestone, Shulamith (2011) ‘Dialektyka Płci. Rozdział 1,’ in Res Publica [online]. Available at: www.
academia.edu/12692375/Shulamith_Firestone_Dialektyka_płci_rozdz.1 [accessed 27 June 2019].
Frosini, Fabio (2003) ‘Sulla «traducibilità» nei Quaderni di Gramsci,’ Critica Marxista 6: 1–10.
Gaboardi, Natalia (2015) ‘Il concetto di ‘traducibilità’ in Gramsci,’ Gramsciana 1: 91–108.
Gill, Stephen, and David Law (1993) ‘Global Hegemony and the Structural Power of Capital,’ in
Gramsci, Historical Materialism and International Relations. Ed. Stephen Gill. Cambridge: Cam-
bridge University Press. 93–125.
Gramsci, Antonio (1947) Lettere dal carcere. Eds. Palmiro Togliatti and Felice Platone. Torino: Einaudi.
Gramsci, Antonio (1948–51) Quaderni del carcere. Ed. Felice Platone. Torino: Einaudi.
Gramsci, Antonio (1949) La questione meridionale. Torino: Tipografia Popolare.
Gramsci, Antonio (1957a) The Modern Prince and Other Writings. Trans. Louis Marks. London:
Lawrence and Wishart.
Gramsci, Antonio (1957b) The Open Marxism of Antonio Gramsci. Trans. Carl Marzani. New York:
Cameron Associates.
Gramsci, Antonio (1961) Pisma wybrane. Trans. Barbara Sieroszewska. Warszawa: Książka i Wiedza.
Gramsci, Antonio (1971/1999) Selections from the Prison Notebooks. Trans. Quintin Hoare, Geof-
frey Nowell-Smith. London: Lawrence & Wishart.
Gramsci, Antonio (1973) Letters from Prison. Trans. Lynne Lawner. New York: Harper and Row.
Gramsci, Antonio (1975) Quaderni del carcere. Ed. Valentino Garratana. Torino: Einaudi.
Gramsci, Antonio (1985) Selections from Cultural Writings. Trans. William Boelhower, David For-
gacs, and Geoffrey Nowell-Smith. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Gramsci, Antonio (1988) Gramsci’s Prison Letters—Lettere dal Carcere. Trans. Hamish Henderson.
London: Zwan Publications.
Gramsci, Antonio (1991) Zeszyty filozoficzne. Ed. Sław Krzemień-Ojak. Trans. Barbara Sieroszewska
and Joanna Szymanowska. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
Gramsci, Antonio (1992) Prison Notebooks, Vol. 1. Trans. Joseph Buttigieg. New York: Columbia
University Press.
Gramsci, Antonio (1994) Letters from Prison. Vol. 1. Ed. Frank Rosengarten. Trans. Raymond
Rosenthal. New York: Columbia University Press.
Gramsci, Antonio (1995/1999) Further Selections from the Prison Notebooks. Trans. Derek Booth-
man. London: Lawrence & Wishart/The Electric Book Company.
Gramsci, Antonio (1996) Prison Notebooks, Vol. 2. Trans. Joseph Buttigieg. New York: Columbia
University Press.
Gramsci, Antonio (2000) The Gramsci Reader, Selected Writings 1916–1935. Eds. David Forgacs
and Eric Hobsbawm. New York: New York University Press.
Gramsci, Antonio (2007a) Prison Notebooks, Vol. 3. Trans. Joseph Buttigieg. New York: Columbia
University Press.

28
 Theory, practice, activism

Gramsci, Antonio (2007b) Quaderni del carcere [Versione digitale in Cd-Rom]. Ed. Dario Ragaz-
zini. Torino: Einaudi.
Hoare, George, and Nathan Sperber (2015) An Introduction to Antonio Gramsci: His Life, Thought
and Legacy. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Hoenisch, Steve (2006) ‘A Wittgensteinian Approach to Discourse Analysis,’ in Critisicm.com
[online]. Available at: www.criticism.com/da/lw_da.html [accessed 21 July 2019].
Ives, Peter (2004a) Gramsci’s Politics of Language: Engaging the Bakhtin Circle and the Frankfurt
School. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Ives, Peter (2004b) Language and Hegemony in Gramsci. London: Pluto Press.
Jay, Martin (1984) Marxism and Totality: The Adventures of a Concept from Lukács to Habermas.
Berkeley: University of California Press.
Kozłowski, Michał (2015) ‘Youngsters and Refugees, or How Exile Changes Eastern Europe,’ in
Open Democracy [online]. Available at: www.opendemocracy.net/can-europe-make-it/michal-
kozlowski/youngsters-and-refugees-or-how-exile-changes-eastern-europe [accessed 27 June 2019].
Krzemień-Ojak, Sław (1991) ‘Wprowadzenie,’ in Antonio Gramsci, Zeszyty filozoficzne. Ed.
Sław Krzemień-Ojak. Trans. Barbara Sieroszewska and Joanna Szymanowska. Warszawa: Wydaw-
nictwo Naukowe PWN. vii–xxxvii.
Lefevere, André (2016) Translation, Rewriting, and the Manipulation of Literary Fame. London:
Routledge.
Lo Piparo, Franco (1979) Lingua, intellettuali, egemonia in Gramsci. Bari: Laterza.
Marzani, Carl (1957) ‘Translator’s Note,’ in Antonio Gramsci, The Open Marxism of Antonio Gram-
sci. Trans. Carl Marzani. New York: Cameron Associates. 15.
Sen, Amartya (2003) ‘Sraffa, Wittgenstein, and Gramsci,’ Journal of Economic Literature 41:
1240–1255.
Togliatti, Palmiro (1937) ‘Antonio Gramsci capo della classe operaia italiana,’ in Lo Stato operaio
5–6 [online] May–June 1937. Available at: https://quadernidelcarcere.wordpress.com/su-gramsci/
antonio-gramsci-il-capo-della-classe-operaia-italiana/ [accessed 27 June 2019].
Trivedi, Harish (2007) ‘Translating Culture vs. Cultural Translation,’ in Translation—Reflections,
Refractions, Transformations. Eds. Paul St-Pierre and Prafulla C. Kar. Amsterdam: John Benja-
mins Publishing Company. 277–287.
Wagner, Birgit (2011) ‘Cultural Translation: A Value or a Tool? Let’s Start with Gramsci!,’ in
Goethezeitportal [online]. Available at: http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/
index/docId/23347 [accessed 27 June 2019].
Winiewski, Mikołaj, Łukasz Jurczyszyn, Michał Bilewicz, and Marta Beneda (2015) ‘Podłoże prawi-
cowych preferencji wyborczych młodych Polaków,’ Report of Centre for Research on Prejudice,
Warsaw [online]. Available at: http://cbu.psychologia.pl/uploads/images/foto/Pod%C5%82o%
C5%BCe%20prawicowych%20preferencji%20wyborczych%20m%C5%82odych%20Polak%
C3%B3w2.pdf [accessed 28 June 2019].
Wittgenstein, Ludwig (1953) Philosophical Investigations. New York: MacMillan Publishing
Company.
Wróblewska, Marta Natalia (2020) ‘Translations of the ‘Prison Notebooks’ into Polish—A Grams-
cian Analysis,’ in Revisiting Gramsci’s Notebooks. Eds. Francesca Antonini, Aaron Bernstein,
Lorenzo Fusaro, and Robert Jackson. Leiden: Brill. 101–121.

29