LA TRADUZIONE DELLA TRAGEDIA «LE FANATISME »DI VOLTAIRE A OPERA DI HELIADE RADULESCU: QUANDO LE TRADUZIONI SEGNANO LA STORIA
VOLTAIRE’ S “LE FANATISME” TRANSLATED BY ION HELIADE RĂDULESCU: WHEN TRANSLATIONS MARK HISTORY

Summary/Abstract: The process of occidentalization of the Romanian language, which had gotten intense only at the beginning of XIXth century, discovered in theatre a powerful instrument. Within this transformation, an important moment emerged with Ion Heliade Radulescu’s translation of Voltaire’s tragedy, Le Fanatisme. It was printed in 1831 with the title Fanatismul sau Mahomet Proorocul and played in 1834 by the scholars of Bucharest theatre school. This translation shows a radical change: until that, few translations had been undertaken and not for playing theatre. But, beginning with 1834, Societatea filarmonică, the theatre association created by Heliade in Bucharest, started a huge activity of plays for theatrical repertoires and increased the necessity of more translations. Fanatismul is the beginning of a new outlook on literature. The development of a laguage of tragedy in Romanian and the development of a national literary identity were the necessities of the epoch. Heliade Rădulescu made his translation a vehicle for pedagogy, for illustrating the good and the bad moral behaviour, but also for the confidence that literature could teach people how to prevent the absolute power of tyrants.

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