Text margins paratranslation in the reception of French nineteenth-century works in Spain
There have been numerous debates about the convenience of translator’s visibility on translated works, with many an opinion shared throughout the history of translation—both for and against—, even to the point of being considered «honte» (Aury, 1963), «violence» (Hersant, 1995) or «ruse grossière». We will show how the translator emerges in every text they translate, by means of paratextual instances (prologues, prefaces, and footnotes). We will analyze in detail these translator’s visibility spaces—a translator who, little by little, claims small pieces of the work’s ownership, even “manipulating” the original text by removing some element, or adding something from their own authorship. Our focus will be on examining the presence of translators in the numerous treaties and manuals translated in Spain during the 19th century, dealing with topics such as medicine, pharmacy, education, hygiene, or agronomy, amongst others. The concept of “paratranslation”, and translation’s paratranslative focus, will make us ponder on “cómo los paratextos influyen sobre la manera en que un nuevo público percibe una literatura traducida” (Yuste Frías: 2015: 66).
Aury, D. (1963), Préface à Mounin, Georges, Les problèmes théoriques de la traduction, París, Gallimard, VIII-XII.
Yuste Frías, J. (2015), “Paratraducción: la traducción de los márgenes, al margen de la traducción”, D.E.L.T.A., 31-especial, pp.317-347.
Manuela Álvarez Jurado
is a Translation and Interpretation Professor at the University of Córdoba. Throughout her lengthy career, she has given lectures on French Language and Literature, Tourism Translation, Literary Translation, and Agri-Food and Biomedical Texts Specialized Translation. Having specialized in the History of Specialized Translation, Manuela Álvarez has authored many publications in high-impact journals and publishing houses. Her recent monograph, La visibilidad del traductor en los tratados de agricultura, agronomía, viticultura y vinificación (1773-1900), published in 2022 by the Comares publishing house, has been reviewed in Estudios de Traducción and Meta: Journal des Traducteurs, among other journals. She has directed several Doctoral Theses on a wide variety of subjects and has been a guest speaker in a high number of congresses, both national and international. She presides over the Congreso Internacional TRADITUR (Traducción y Discurso Turístico), which had its third edition taking place at the University of Córdoba in 2023. On an international scope, she is a regular collaborator with the Sorbonne and Paris Cité universities, as well as the Paris ISIT, in which she has done teaching and research stays. Manuela Álvarez is, also, a main international and autonomic R&D researcher, as well as an external evaluator for high-relevance journals—national and international— such as Çédille, Tangence, Mutatis Mutandis, and Onomázein, among others.