Unfaithful translation and translation purposes: The Discovery of America by Joachim Heinrich Campe, in Romanian version† Cover Image

Unfaithful translation and translation purposes: The Discovery of America by Joachim Heinrich Campe, in Romanian version†
Unfaithful translation and translation purposes: The Discovery of America by Joachim Heinrich Campe, in Romanian version†

Author(s): Iulia-Elena Zup
Subject(s): Language studies, Comparative Study of Literature, German Literature, Romanian Literature, 18th Century, 19th Century, Translation Studies
Published by: Editura Universităţii »Alexandru Ioan Cuza« din Iaşi
Keywords: translation; old literature; comparative analysis; glosses;

Summary/Abstract: This paper investigates the purpose of using certain translation strategies in the Romanian version of the novel Die Entdekkung von Amerika (1781) by Joachim Heinrich Campe, translated from German by the merchant and teacher Nicola Nicolau from Brașov and published at the Printing House of the University of Buda in 1816 with the title Descoperirea Americii. Starting from the skopus theory developed by Hans Vermeer, the purposes of producing the Romanian version are analysed, in comparison with those of writing the original text and of the translations in other languages. At the textual level, through the comparative analysis, strategies are highlighted, especially omissions and interpolations, which help to achieve the goals of the translator or the text. Thus, through the transfer between the source and the target culture, one can observe the maintenance of the pedagogical Enlightenment goals, of instructing the masses regarding moral virtues and historical and geographical knowledge, and the addition of the one of cultivating the Romanian language.

  • Issue Year: 2021
  • Issue No: 13
  • Page Range: 1-10
  • Page Count: 10
  • Language: English