Starting with the observation that the word translation has its etymological roots, as does metaphor, in notions of space, this chapter attempts to revivify the relevance of the notion of space in translation, by relating it to the space that typically is occupied by textual editors. It takes the example principally of Samuel Beckett: looking at examples from his own translation practice as well as his attitudes towards that practice; looking at the work of scholarly editing that went into the four-volume edition of his letters; and questioning the role of the editor who has traditionally been seen as ideally invisible and authoritative. The various stages that go into the making of such an edition – transcription, translation, selection, annotation – are revealed to be reluctant to conform to the notional ideal of the editor’s transparency.

Chapter 1 examines how Italians responded to the interracial encounters that took place during the war and in the immediate postwar years. In the midst of economic difficulties, fears of crime dominated public opinion, and foreigners were blamed (especially if they had a dark skin) along with the women who associated with them. The fraternization between Allied soldiers and civilians generated tensions that triggered frequent clashes between Italian men and the male occupiers, competing for the favors of Italian women. Interracial sex was often cast as a form of moral degradation, obscuring the genuine love relationships that also occurred between Italian women and non-white Allied soldiers.