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Article published In: Target
Vol. 17:2 (2005) ► pp.327–347

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Robert Graves’s Claudian novels

A case of pseudotranslation

 | Hogeschool Gent & Universiteit Gent
Published online: 15 August 2006
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https://doi.org/10.1075/target.17.2.06dup
The article outlines the relevance of pseudotranslation for Translation Studies, using a case study of the novels I, Claudius and Claudius, the God by Robert Graves. The paper provides a list of partly overlapping motivations for adopting pseudotranslation and illustrates this motivation paradigm on the basis of particular findings in Graves’s novels: if an author wants to attribute a pseudotranslation to an existing person, the author has to account for stylistic differences between the pseudotranslation and genuine texts by that person. By claiming to translate from a different source language than the language normally used by the existing person, the author of the pseudotranslation can mask those stylistic divergences.
Résumé
Cet article souligne l’importance du phénomène de la pseudotraduction pour recherche sur la traduction en examinant les romans I, Claudius et Claudius, the God de Robert Graves. L’article recluse une liste de motivations possibles pour utiliser la pseudotraduction et les applique au le cas spécifique des romans claudiens : une pseudotraduction peut masquer des anomalies stilistiques entre un texte fictif et des textes réels d’un auteur existant, en disant de traduire d’une langue source différente de celle des textes réels de l’auteur.
Article outline
  • 0.Introduction
  • 1.Pseudotranslation
    • 1.1Definition of pseudotranslation
    • 1.2Importance of pseudotranslation to Translation Studies
    • 1.3Motivations for using pseudotranslation
  • 2.Pseudotranslation in the Claudian novels
    • 2.1Robert Graves and the Claudian novels
    • 2.2Features enhancing the translation reading
    • 2.3Features enhancing the original author reading
  • 3.Motivation for the double approach
    • 3.1Motivation for using pseudotranslation in the Claudian novels
    • 3.2Specific motivation
  • 4.Cultural planning
    • 4.1Direct influence on Allan Massie’s novels
    • 4.2Influence of I, Claudius on Augustus
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
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