LE SYMPOSIUM INTERNATIONAL LE LIVRE. LA ROUMANIE. L ...

Literal translation vs. Free translation. A case study... 143
In the exemplified translation we have shown how Cantemir adapted
the latin text to a new audience (see 3.2.). thus, we notice a careful, critical
transformation of Wissowatius’ text which provides valuable insight into
Cantemir’s manner of translation. Such adaptations are of interest because
of the things they tell us about the readers of the time.
these deliberate omissions in the translation of the latin text are
appropriate, as they avoid unnecessary difficulties and provide greater
readability. Cantemir’s translation takes into account the possibility that his
readers find the literal translation too difficult, so the translator emphasizes
the general clarity and the overall coherence, matching the complexity of
the latin sentences, which results in an easily readable text at the same
time.
Corpus
CD – Divanul, iaşi, 1698, in dimitrie cantemir, Opere, edition and Introduction
by Virgil cândea, Bucureşti: Editura pentru literatură, 1969 (see also Opere
complete I. Divanul, Introduction, edition, Comments by Virgil Cândea,
Greek text ed. by Maria Marinescu-himu, Bucureşti: Editura Academiei,
1974).
CD A.D. – The Salvation of the Wise Man and The Ruin of the Sinful World/ Ṣalāḥ
al-ḥakīm wa-fasād al-ʻālam al-ḏamīm, Arabic edition, english translation,
editor’s note, notes and Indices by Ioana Feodorov, Introduction and
comments by Virgil cândea, Bucureşti: Editura Academiei române, 2006.
WSV – Andreas Wissowatius, Stimuli virtutum, fraena peccatorum, ut alia eiusdem
generis opuscula posthuma, apud henricum Janssonium, Amstelaedami,
1682 (see also Dimitrie Cantemir, Opere, Bucureşti: Editura pentru
literatură, 1969, p. 423-462).
References
CânDeA, Virgil. “Studiu introductiv”, in Dimitrie Cantemir, Opere. Divanul.
Bucureşti: Editura pentru literatură, 1969, p. Vii-cX;
CopelAnD, rita. Rhetoric, Hermeneutics and Translation in the Middle Ages.
Academic Traditions and Vernacular Texts. Cambridge–new york–port
Chester–Melbourne–Sydney: Cambridge university press, 1991;