Fakery, Serious Fun and Cultural Change: Some Motives of the Pseudo-Translator

Resumen

Los escritores han producido pseudotraducciones por razones muy variadas, entre ellas la obtención de beneficios económicos, la apropiación indebida de autorías ajenas, la intención clara de engañar o, incluso, la búsqueda de una mayor libertad creativa, por citar solo algunos. Sorprende, asimismo, comprobar cómo la preudotraducción parece proliferar con un vigor especial en momentos de transición genérica o cultural, como ya indicó Gideon Touyr. Este artículo estudia varios ejemplos de pseudotraducción protagonizados por tres escritores ingleses – Walter Savage Landor, Sir Richard Burton y Peter Russell – y ofrece un conjunto de observaciones acerca de sus motivos y de sus métodos como responsables del ejercicio de este arte engañoso. Palabras clave: Adcock, Fleur; Banville, Theodore de; Burton, Sir Richard Francis; Collins, William; De Quincey, Thomas; forgery; Hæring, G.W.; Hâjî Abdû El-Yezdî; Hermans, Theo; Julius Caesar; Landor, Walter Savage; Larkin, Philip; Leonidas of Tarentum; Macpherson, James; Ossian; pseudotraducción; Quintilius; Russell, Peter; Santayana, George; Scott, Sir Walter; Toury, Gideon; Walpole, Horace. Abstract Fakery, Serious Fun and Cultural Change: Some Motives of the Pseudo-Translator Glyn PURSGLOVE Writers have produced pseudo-translations for many different reasons, including the prospect of commercial advantage, spurious claims to authority, sheer mischief or as a means to a kind of personal creative liberation – and for many other motives too. It is striking that pseudo-translations seem to proliferate with particular vigour at times of cultural or generic transition (as previously noted by Gideon Toury). This study considers acts of pseudo-translation by three English writers – Walter Savage Landor, Sir Richard Burton and Peter Russell – offering observations both on their motives and their methods as practitioners of this deceptive art. Key words: Adcock, Fleur; Banville, Theodore de; Burton, Sir Richard Francis; Collins, William; De Quincey, Thomas; forgery; Hæring, G.W.; Hâjî Abdû El-Yezdî; Hermans, Theo; Julius Caesar; Landor, Walter Savage; Larkin, Philip; Leonidas of Tarentum; Macpherson, James; Ossian; pseudo-translation; Quintilius; Russell, Peter; Santayana, George; Scott, Sir Walter; Toury, Gideon; Walpole, Horace.