Ginzburg, Andrea

Due traduttori: Gramsci e Sraffa

in a letter of 30 May 1932 from prison, via Tania, Gramsci posed a few questions to Sraffa. Can Ricardo be attributed - asks Gramsci - with a contribution "synthetic" to the development of Marx's views, a contribution concerning «the intuition of the world and the way of thinking, not merely analytical, concerning a particular doctrine [the theory of value], albeit an essential one?». Sraffa's reply, as we know, is elusive. He pleads inability to provide an answer, asks for clarification, and promises further inquiries. The exchange of letters on these matters would end here. But just what were the problems that originated Gramsci's question? And how did Gramsci's questions reverberate in Sraffa's subsequent theoretical development? Trough the Prison Notebooks and the paper left by Sraffa, as well as from his work published in 1960, it is possible to attempt a reconstruction of the intellectual paths taken by the two authors and discover unexpected convergences, as well as obvious differences. The key concept employed here is that of the "translatability of scientific languages", a term that Gramsci inherited from Lenin and expanded in a plurality of directions. From this extension, Boothman has argued, stems the "open" character of Gramsci's Marxism. The theme of the translatability of languages is also present in Sraffa: in a Note written shortly after the important theoretical turning point of the summer of 1927, he states his intention to write a book that will consist in the translation of Marx into English, that is in the translation of the "metaphysics" of Hegel into that of David Hume. It can be shown that issues that have a prominent importance in Gramsci's thought, such as the interpretation of Marx'a theory as a "philosophy of praxis", the problem of historical causality in social systems, the historical subjectivity of social groups, the relationship between history, political thought and political economy, help us to understand the meaning and the importance of Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities.

Language	ita
Names	[author] Ginzburg, Andrea
Subjects	Sraffa, Piero Marx, Karl Sraffa, Piero Marx, Karl