Constructing a Sociology of Translation.pdf

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Between sociology and history 195or disqualify previous work and substitute new models to former theories, but toopen up alternative interpretations equally plausible simultaneously. In translationstudies more than in any discipline, past or new, it is essential, in my opinion,to develop the prospect of a method pliable to multiple angles of interpretation.Specifically, those interpretations ought not to be seen in “either/or” exclusionaryterms but in the context of mutually compatible frames of understanding wheredifference is the result of distinct historical traditions.The case I will be briefly addressing here had rarely been studied when I setout to work on it: Graf (1911), Collison-Morley (1916), Crinò (1932), Rosa (1964),Petrone Fresco (1993) together make up 35 pages of evaluative criticism. A littleknownfigure of the Senese cultural scene, Domenico Valentini (1688?-1762) wasthe author of the first complete translation of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar in Italian.His translation was also the first complete one of the Shakespearian corpusin Italy and the second one in Europe after von Borck (1704–1747), the Prussianambassador to Britain, initiated the long journey of European Shakespearesin London in 1741 (see Bertana 1901: 73). Valentini’s version was published inLucca on the printing presses of Agostino Bindi in 1756 (Valentini 1756). He wasalready an aged man, with little to show to his credit – a mere collection of shortessays and discourses in Latin and Italian and of translations from authors of thepre-Enlightenment period.All things considered, the case seems as a-typical as can be, resisting conceptualtreatment along the lines of any “theoretical” approach to translationand, for that reason, challenging generalization. The author had had substantialexperience in circulating foreign works in Italian, all of them from the Englishlanguage. 2 This was “Übersetzung aus zweiter Hand” in von Stackelberg’s words(1984), i.e. through the mediation of existing French translations, following or-2. See the second part of his collected works printed two years before his Giulio Cesare (Valentini1754). Twelve copies of this rare volume were printed (see Pecci Scrittori senesi. ms. atthe Biblioteca Comunale di Siena). Two only survive, one in Lucca at the Biblioteca Statale nelConvento Santa Maria Nera, the other at the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna. I amgrateful to Professor Mario Rosa for providing me with this precious information shortly aftermy personal copy of the Raccoltà was destroyed. The intermediary translations included in thevolume were from Simon Ockley’s Vita di Maometto, based on a French translation (1748) ofThe History of the Saracens (1708–1718); a series of Caratteri from Temple Stanyan’s GrecianHistory (1739), translated by Diderot in 1742; several chapters from the Spectator of Steele etAddison again translated out of their French version, Le spectateur ou le Socrate moderne; andan extract of Samuel Shuckford’s The Sacred and Profane History of the World Connected fromthe Creation of the World to the Dissolution of the Assyrian Empire at the Death of Sardanapalus,and to the Declension of the Kingdoms of Judah and Israel under the Reigns of Ahaz and Pekah(1727), translated into French in 1752.
19 Daniel Simeonidinary practice in Europe in the eighteenth century. 3 Valentini’s decision to do aGiulio Cesare was a far less banal initiative. He did not know a word of Englishand no previous translation of the work existed in French. In the 60-page prefacehe appended to the play, he acknowledges that he was helped in this project by anumber of (unidentified) visitors from England who – presumably – were on theirGrand tour. He presents himself quite candidly as “co-translator” (contraduttore).What is remarkable to us in retrospect is that he produced what can be consideredtoday as the closest rendering of a foreign text in translation in his day and age. 4 Itis the proximity of the two texts, “source” and “target”, which makes that particulartranslation a practice violating local norms. After all, when Scipione Maffeiprotested vehemently in 1745 (Maffei 1991/1745) at the way Voltaire had translatedhis 1714 verse tragedy Merope in 1744 under the title La Mérope française,the countermodel he had in mind was not the one applied by Valentini. The GiulioCesare went further; it was a truly modern transposition, more in line with thekind of discourse on translation that German theologians were to propose at thenewly-founded University of Berlin toward the end of the Napoleonic wars (seee.g. Schleiermacher 1973/1813). But that was fifty years later. Also, it is doubtfulthat Valentini, passionate as he was, could have had the kind of nationalist agendathat his successors had (even if the cover page of his Lucchese translation specifiedthat the translation was turned “in Lingua Toscana”). On the one hand, thenon-recognition of Valentini in his own times and his invisibility in the history oftranslations confirm the target-oriented paradigm. Violating the norms is alwaysan option. But the price for that is heavy. End of story. Or is it? What if we startedlooking at his case in a less definitive manner, from the perspective of the conflictof disciplines?The Giulio Cesare appears to be a case for historians all through – the times,the context, the lack of representativeness of Valentini’s version make it an exception,likely to attract historians of the Settecento, perhaps, for what it reveals of thetensions and uncertainties of the political culture in the Granducato under the3. See also Toury (1995), Chapter 7, for cases of translation from English into Hebrew mediatedby German.. Shakespeare’s fame was just beginning to bloom in Europe after Pope’s and Theobald’s reconsiderationsof his work in England. When Valentini translated Julius Caesar despite his ignoranceof the English language, his critics seized upon the opportunity for delegitimizing hiswork. Yet it was not the first time that playwrights had been translated by Italian authors whodid not know the source language. However, in all such cases, the end-result was a rewriting ofthe original product in keeping with eighteenth-century norms. In Valentini’s, it was the proximityof the two versions which was the scandal. Interestingly, that proximity was hardly notedat the time – it was the quality of Shakespeare’s text which was stigmatized, which entailed thecomplete disqualification of the translation and of its author.
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Constructing a Sociology of Transla
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Constructing a Sociologyof Translat
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Table of contentsIntroduction: The
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IntroductionThe emergence of a soci
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Introduction 31990), translation st
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Introduction 5By way of illustratio
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Introduction 7ing defined as “the
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Introduction 9process is reminiscen
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Introduction 11transcend the equiva
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Introduction 13of translation, and
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Introduction 15ideological dimensio
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Introduction 17transnational transf
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Introduction 19key concepts to cond
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Introduction 21dimension in transla
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Introduction 23become active under
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Introduction 25364), and such expec
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Introduction 27foundation and conso
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Introduction 29tion when they comme
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Introduction 31a micro-contextual l
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Introduction 33Fuchs, Martin. 1997.
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Introduction 35Silbermann, Alphons
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part iThe debate on the translator
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0Erich Prunčwhich - despite a subs
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2Erich Prunčwith the signifiers wh
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Erich Prunčgiven society has to ac
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Erich Prunčstory about the famous
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8Erich Prunčsmall social groups. W
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50 Erich Prunčto interpretation. T
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52 Erich Prunčsearch for an adequa
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5Erich PrunčHermans, Theo. 1999. T
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5Erich PrunčSnell-Hornby, Mary. 21
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58 Theo Hermansenty Greek translato
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0Theo Hermansfor a year and a half,
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2Theo Hermanscurrently up to sevent
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Theo Hermansand made sense of selec
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Theo Hermansclosure suggests autono
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8Theo Hermansthe modern world, the
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70 Theo Hermanstions are produced o
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72 Theo HermansLuhmann’s term for
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7Theo Hermans3. To locate her own a
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part iiBourdieu’s influence in co
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80 Jean-Marc Gouanvicêtre la tradu
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82 Jean-Marc Gouanvictions, ses col
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8Jean-Marc Gouanvicvent que la trad
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8Jean-Marc Gouanvic“L’habitus
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88 Jean-Marc GouanvicL’illusio li
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90 Jean-Marc Gouanvicaméricain). L
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92 Jean-Marc Gouanvicdes formes, tr
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9Johan Heilbron and Gisèle Sapirot
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9Johan Heilbron and Gisèle Sapirot
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98 Johan Heilbron and Gisèle Sapir
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100 Johan Heilbron and Gisèle Sapi
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102 Johan Heilbron and Gisèle Sapi
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The location of the “translation
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Locating systems and individualsin
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Locating systems and individuals in
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Translations “in the making” *H
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Translations “in the making” 13
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Page 179 and 180: 172 Andrew Chestermanwhole book. Th
Page 181 and 182: 17Andrew Chestermanpeople and their
Page 183 and 184: 17 Andrew Chestermancontributory co
Page 185 and 186: 178 Andrew ChestermanNorms, brief,
Page 187 and 188: 180 Andrew Chestermanple talk and w
Page 189 and 190: 182 Andrew ChestermanBrown, Gillian
Page 192: part ivConstructing a sociologyof t
Page 195 and 196: 188 Daniel Simeoniapparent in Engli
Page 197 and 198: 190 Daniel Simeonito distinguish be
Page 199 and 200: 192 Daniel Simeonireferences to tra
Page 201: 19 Daniel SimeoniEurope but certain
Page 205 and 206: 198 Daniel Simeonifor Tuscany. His
Page 207 and 208: 200 Daniel Simeonidressed to third
Page 209 and 210: 202 Daniel Simeoninorms by social a
Page 211 and 212: 20 Daniel Simeonisus Cultural Trans
Page 213 and 214: 20 Yves Gambierpour obtenir une rec
Page 215 and 216: 208 Yves Gambierau service des domi
Page 217 and 218: 210 Yves Gambier(plutôt centrée s
Page 219 and 220: 212 Yves Gambier- Les associations,
Page 221 and 222: 21 Yves Gambiercisions? Quels sont
Page 223 and 224: 21 Yves GambierBourdieu, Pierre and
Page 226 and 227: Notes on contributorsAgorni Mirella
Page 228 and 229: Notes on contributors 221publicatio
Page 230 and 231: Author indexAÁlvarez, Román 11And
Page 232 and 233: Subject indexAactant 23-24Actor-Net
Page 234 and 235: Benjamins Translation LibraryA comp
Page 236: 19 cArr, Silvana e., roda P. robert
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