Retranslation as Polemical Conversation with Predecessors
Retranslation as Polemical Conversation with Predecessors

Summary/Abstract: Canonical texts should be retranslated periodically, to avoid the obsolescence that fatally begins to affect not only the interpretations of previous translators but also their linguistic choices. A recent project conducted in Romania has underlined the importance of retranslating Shakespearean works into Romanian especially through a polemical ‘conversation’ with revered predecessors. The poetics of the new edition of retranslations foregrounds the performative dimension of Shakespearean texts and aims to reconnect the public of the present to the world of the great writer’s texts. These retranslations have already been used for Romanian performances and are now appreciated for their greater semantic and pragmatic adequacy. This paper presents the basic principles and methods adopted by the translators of the new edition and further explores the vistas that it opens for future Romanian retranslations of dramatic texts written not only by Shakespeare but also by some of his contemporaries.

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