Email this article Giacomo Castelvetro’s political translations: narrative strategies and literary style
Abstract
Abstract - Translations of contemporary polemical and political tracts attributed to or associated with Giacomo Castelvetro (1546-1616) show a rejection of a servile adherence to the source text and the effort to produce an autonomous, readable text, one that in many cases is stylistically elevated and hence ‘literary’. Like most Renaissance translators, Castelvetro changes the form of expression of the texts and adopts narrative strategies in order to increase their communicative potential and reinforce the message they convey. An analysis of extracts from the translations of Discourse of the Maner of the Discovery of this late intended Treason (1605) and Elizabeth I’s proclamation By the Queen on the Seizure of the Earls of Essex, Rutland, Southampton (1600) will show how, through changes in emphasis and syntax, the translations give prominence to certain ‘characters’ in the narratives such as Guy Fawkes and the Earl of Essex. The stylistic elevation of the source text, moreover, shows how Castelvetro’s translations respond to a strong rhetorical tradition.
Riassunto - Alcune traduzioni di testi contemporanei, di argomento politico e polemico, attribuite o associate a Giacomo Castelvetro (1546-1616) mostrano il rigetto di un’aderenza servile al testo d’origine e lo sforzo di produrre un testo autonomo, leggibile, che in molti casi è stilisticamente più elevato e quindi ‘letterario’. Come molti traduttori rinascimentali, Castelvetro cambia la forma espressiva dei testi e adotta strategie narrative per accrescere il potenziale comunicativo e rafforzare il messaggio. Un’analisi di estratti dalle traduzioni del Discourse of the Maner of the Discovery of this late intended Treason (1605) e del proclama di Elisabetta I By the Queen on the Seizure of the Earls of Essex, Rutland, Southampton (1600) mostrerà come, attraverso cambiamenti di enfasi e di sintassi, le traduzioni diano risalto ad alcuni ‘personaggi’ della narrazione come Guy Fawkes e il Conte di Essex. L’elevazione stilistica del testo d’origine, inoltre, mostra come le traduzioni di Castelvetro siano legate ad una forte tradizione retorica.
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