Narratology

The second entry is la narrazione in prima persona, and the phrase inside it does a second job in Italian that « in the first person » never does in English. Grammatically the two match exactly: a novel written in prima persona is a novel written in the first person. Away from grammar, Italian uses the same three words to say that somebody acted in person rather than through others. Il sindaco ha seguito la trattativa in prima persona means the mayor handled the negotiation himself, and si è esposto in prima persona means he put his own name at risk. English has to change words altogether here — « himself », « personally », « in his own name » — because « he followed the negotiation in the first person » would send a reader straight back to grammar and leave him stranded there. One neighbouring phrase is worth keeping apart, since English blurs the two under « first-hand ». Di prima mano is about how you came to know a thing; in prima persona is about who did it. A witness has news di prima mano, an organiser works in prima persona.