Rewriting the Self: Diary and Identity in the Self-Translation of Piccolo Karma by Carlo Cocciol

Abstract

Piccolo Karma by Carlo Coccioli represents an extreme case of self-translation, developed in three versions – Italian, Spanish, and French – on which the author worked simultaneously. This article focuses on the construction of the self through narrative and translational choices. Drawing on theories of autobiographical writing, particularly Philippe Lejeune’s “autobiographical pact”, as well as studies on self-translation, the article considers the diary form as a determining factor in the processes of rewriting and self-representation. In Piccolo Karma, Coccioli combines intimate diary writing with intellectual reflection, transforming writing into a space for self-analysis and continuous reinvention. The simultaneous composition of the three versions also makes it difficult to establish a rigid hierarchy between original and translations: each text becomes an echo and extension of the others, contributing to the construction of a plural diary. Multilingualism thus functions as an identity-shaping device through which Coccioli gives form to three different configurations of the self, his “three souls”, each connected to the expressive possibilities offered by Italian, Spanish, and French. Comparative analysis shows that the author-translator exercises considerable creative freedom, deleting, adding, correcting, or expanding passages and adapting cultural and autobiographical references to the expectations of a different “model reader”. Coccioli’s perfectionism and his constant revision of his works likewise become instruments for controlling his authorial image. Narrative identity therefore emerges not as fixed but as continuously negotiated between author, language, culture, and addressee. Although Pequeño Karma and Petit Karma remain dependent on the original Italian diary, they demonstrate how self-translation can turn diary writing into a privileged laboratory for rewriting the self. For Coccioli, self-translation ultimately becomes a form of identity survival and literary affirmation, allowing him to seek a place simultaneously within the Italian, French, and Latin American cultural and literary spheres.