Cover not available
Article published In:
Literary translatorship in digital contexts
Edited by Wenqian Zhang, Motoko Akashi and Peter Jonathan Freeth
[Translation in Society 3:1] 2024
► pp. 40–60

The instafamous translator

Exploring the manifestations of Francesca Crescentini’s literary translatorship on social media platforms

ORCID logo
This article investigates how translator and content creator Francesca Crescentini (@tegamini) uses social media to make herself and her translatorship visible in a digital context. Boasting an Instagram following of over 210,000 users, Crescentini is understood here as a unique example of an ‘instafamous’ translator and macro-influencer, which gives her and her translatorship an unprecedented level of public exposure – particularly in the Italian context in which she works, where translator visibility is typically low. The analysis of Crescentini’s case presents new insights into how literary translators can leverage their online and social media presence to enhance both their own visibility and that of literary translation more broadly.
Keywords: paratext, social media, translatorship, translator studies, translator celebrity, translator brand, translator visibility
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical framework
    • 2.1Paratextual translatorship and digital paratexts
    • 2.2Social media fame and translator fame: Differences and commonalities
      • 2.2.1New celebrities: Micro- and macro-influencers
      • 2.2.2Celebrity translators and translator brand
    • 2.3Translators and influencers: Common strategies for fame
  • 3.Literary translators in the Italian context
  • 4.Establishing Francesca Crescentini’s translatorship
  • 5.Digital paratextual translatorship: Crescentini’s case
  • 6.Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 7 March 2024
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/tris.23014.fin
References (49)
References
AITI. 2012. “Statuto.” Accessed 2 February 2024. [URL]
Alvstad, Cecilia. 2014. “The Translation Pact.” Language and Literature 23 (3): 270–284. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Akashi, Motoko. 2018a. Contesting Invisibility: Japanese Celebrity Translators and the Impact of their Fame. PhD diss. University of East Anglia.
. 2018b. “Translator Celebrity: Investigating Haruki Murakamiʼs Visibility as A Translator.” Celebrity Studies 9 (2): 271–278. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Azzolin, Rebecca. 2019. “La comunicazione mediata e i nuovi paradigmi comunicativi: studio interdisciplinare [Mediated Communication and New Communicative Paradigms: An Interdisciplinary Study].” Master’s diss. Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia.
Biblit. 2019. “Traduttori in copertina.” Accessed 31 January 2024. [URL]
Batchelor, Kathryn. 2018. Translation and Paratexts. London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1995. The Rules of Art: Genesis and Structure of the Literary Field. Redwood City, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
CEATL (European Council of Associations of Literary Translators). 2022. Accessed 20 July 2022. [URL]
Cinerari, Rachele. 2018. Accessed 25 August 2023. [URL]; [URL]
Colletti, Giampaolo, and Fabio Grattagliano. 2020. Accessed 10 March 2022. [URL]
Crescentini, Francesca. 2010. “Tegamini – il blog di Francesca Crescentini.” Accessed 10 April 2023. [URL]
Colibrì. 2020. “‘Gideon la Nona’ di Tamsyn Muir, con Francesca Crescentini e Tiffany Vecchietti.” Facebook. 23 November 2020. [URL]
Duranti, Riccardo. 2011. “Italian Tradition.” In Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies. 2nd ed. Edited by Mona Baker, and Gabriela Saldanha, 474–484. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.Google Scholar
Freeth, Peter J. 2022. Beyond Invisibility: The Position and Role of the Literary Translator in the Digital Paratextual Space. PhD diss. University of Leeds.
Genette, Gérard. 1997. Paratexts: Thresholds of Interpretation. Translated by Jane E. Lewin. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gretzel, Ulrike. 2018. “Influencer Marketing in Travel and Tourism.” In Advances in Social Media for Travel, Tourism and Hospitality: New Perspectives, Practice and Cases, edited by Marianna Sigala, and Ulrike Gretzel, 147–156. London and New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Hadley, James, and Motoko Akashi. 2015. “Translation and Celebrity: The Translation Strategies of Haruki Murakami and Their Implications for the Visibility Paradigm.” Perspectives 23 (3): 458–474. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hahn, Daniel. 2022. Catching Fire: A Translation Diary. Edinburgh: Charco Press.Google Scholar
Horton, Donald, and R. Richard Wohl. 1956. “Mass Communication and Para-social Interaction: Observations on Intimacy at a Distance.” Psychiatry 19 (3): 215–229. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Il Saggiatore. 2018. “Guardate questa copertina…” Facebook. 11 January 2018. [URL]
Il Salone Internazionale del Libro di Torino. 2023. Accessed 13 April 2023. [URL]
Jerslev, Anne. 2016. “In the Time of Microcelebrity: Celebrification and the Youtuber Zoella.” International Journal of Communication 101: 5233–5251.Google Scholar
Kay, Samantha, Rory Mulcahy, and Joy Parkinson. 2020. “When Less Is More: The Impact of Macro and Micro Social Media Influencersʼ Disclosure.” Journal of Marketing Management 36 (3–4): 248–278. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Koskinen, Kaisa. 2000. Beyond Ambivalence: Postmodernity and the Ethics of Translation. PhD diss. University of Tampere.
Le Notti Bianche. 2019. “Francesca Crescentini – Tegamini e la traduzione.” Facebook event. 6 April 2019. [URL]
Marino, Francesco. 2013. “Il fantasmagorico mondo di Tegamini.” Digitalic 191: 68–70.Google Scholar
Markerly. 2018. Accessed 14 January 2024. [URL]
Marwick, Alice E. 2015. “Instafame: Luxury Selfies in the Attention Economy.” Public Culture, 27 (1): 137–160. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Murray, Simone. 2018. The Digital Literary Sphere: Reading, Writing, and Selling Books in the Internet Era. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Not Just Analytics. 2023. Accessed 31 January 2024. [URL]
Oscar Vault. 2019a. “La traduzione è stata affidata a…” Instagram. 17 July 2019. [URL]
. 2019b. “Sta per arrivare un fumetto bellissimo…” Facebook. 5 June 2019. [URL]
. 2020. “Inauguriamo un nuovo appuntamento…” Instagram. 30 April 2020. [URL]
. 2021. “Altri dettagli del libro…” Facebook. 28 December 2021. [URL]
Paloposki, Outi. 2009. “Limits of Freedom: Agency, Choice and Constraints in the Work of the Translator.” In Agents of Translation, edited by John Milton, and Paul Bandia, 189–208. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rahmah, Sarah, and Dan Ren. 2019. “The Impact of Micro-Influencer Marketing on Millennials Purchasing Decision.” Masters diss. Skema Business School.
Ruiz-Gómez, Alexandra. 2019. “Digital Fame and Fortune in the Age of Social Media: A Classification of Social Media Influencers.” aDResearch ESIC International Journal of Communication Research 19 (19): 8–29. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Salone Internazionale del Libro di Torino. 2023. “Programma.” I ferri del mestiere: Autopromuoversi con i social network. [URL]
Sela-Sheffy, Rakefet. 2005. “How to be a (recognized) translator.” Target 171 (11): 1–26. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2008. “The Translators’ Personae: Marketing Translatorial Images as Pursuit of Capital.” Meta 53 (3): 609–622. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Senft, Theresa M. 2013. “Microcelebrity and the Branded Self.” In A Companion to New Media Dynamics, edited by John Hartley, Jean Burgess, and Axel Bruns, 346–354. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Strade – Sezione Traduttori Editoriali SLC-CGIL. 2022. “Statuto StradeLab.” July 2022. Accessed 27 July 2022. [URL]
Svahn, Elin. 2020. The Dynamics of Extratextual Translatorship in Contemporary Sweden: A Mixed Method Approach. PhD diss. Stockholm University.
Tahir Gürçaglar, Şehnaz. 2011. “Paratexts.” In Handbook of Translation Studies (Volume 2), edited by Yves Gambier, and Luc van Doorslaer, 113–116. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Toury, Gideon. 1995. Descriptive Translation Studies – and beyond. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
TrackMaven. 2016. Slideshare presentation. Accessed 17 January 2024. [URL]
Venuti, Lawrence. 1995. The Translator’s Invisibility: A History of Translation. Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar
Zhang, Wenqian. 2023. “Constructing the Literary Translator as a Brand: Methodological Considerations.” Translation in Society 2 (2): 123–145. DOI logoGoogle Scholar