Au-delà de la traduction. Chanter Jacques Brel en italien: Giorgio Gaber, I borghesi (1971)

Abstract

This article analyses Jacques Brel’s influence on Giorgio Gaber’s LP I borghesi, published in 1971. After defining Gaber’s role in the early cantautori movement and his stance in the political debate of the late sixties and seventies, this paper mainly focuses on the songs adapted from Brel’s “Ces gens-là”, “Les bourgeois” and “Jef”. The fact that neither Gaber nor his co-author Sandro Luporini spoke French fluently allows us to investigate the fact that (and the ways in which) the adaptation of a song can draw inspiration from music and interpretation rather than the mere translation of the lyrics.