Traduttore traditore

Recitesc zilele astea The Importance of Being Earnest într-o ediție englezească publicată de Editura Didactică și Pedagogică în 1969. În subsolul fiecărei pagini e plin de traduceri, unele mai simpatice decât altele.

Spre exemplu, Algernon spune la un moment dat:

The only way to behave to a woman is to make love to her, if she is pretty, and to someone else, if she is plain.

Iar traducătorul conștiincios notează:

7. to make love to her – să-i faci curte

8. and to someone else – (să-i faci curte) alteia

Cu un an înainte, la Paris studenții scriau pe ziduri “Jouissez sans entraves”. La București era încă iarnă.

  1. Fals, Dle Bucurenci. Traducatorul avea dreptate. Prima consemnare a sensului “a face dragoste” (adica sex) este din 1927; este un inteles american al cuvantului, care apoi s-a generalizat. De secole, “to make love” insemna a face curte.

    Iata dovezi, conform Oxford Dictionary, obtinute prin functia de “timeline” care arata istoria cuvintelor:

    (a) To pay amorous attention; to court, woo. Freq. with to. Also in extended use. Now somewhat arch.

    1567 G. Fenton tr. M. Bandello Certaine Tragicall Disc. f. 155v, The attire of a Cortisan, or woman makynge loue [Fr. femme qui fait l’Amour].
    1580 J. Lyly Euphues & his Eng. in Euphues (new ed.) f. 34v, A Phrase nowe there is which belongeth to your Shoppe boorde, that is to make loue.
    1600 Shakespeare Midsummer Night’s Dream i. i. 107 Demetrius‥Made loue to Nedars daughter.
    a1616 Shakespeare Hamlet (1623) v. ii. 58 Why, man, they did make loue to this imployment.
    a1616 Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) iii. i. 125 Thence it is That I to your assistance doe make loue.
    1663 A. Cowley Hymn to Light ii, Thou golden Shower of a true Jove! Who does in thee descend, and Heav’n to Earth make love!
    1695 W. Congreve Love for Love iv. i. 70 Nay, Mr. Tattle, If you make Love to me, you spoil my design, for I intended to make you my Confident.
    1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 517. ¶2 The Widow Lady whom he had made Love to.
    1768 L. Sterne Sentimental Journey I. 79 You have been making love to me all this while.
    1784 R. Bage Barham Downs II. 318 You‥may make love, and play your pitty patties.
    1829 W. Cobbett Advice to Young Men iv. §181 It is an old saying, ‘Praise the child, and you make love to the mother’.
    a1845 T. Hood Poems (1846) I. 213 Oh there’s nothing in life like making love.
    1860 Sat. Rev. 9 306 How often‥do we make love to the charms of cousins and avuncular expectations.
    1887 W. Besant World Went xiv. 112 He would crack the crown of any man who ventured to make love to his girl.
    1906 H. Green At Actors’ Boarding House 209, I thought I’d die laughing at his making love‥and me with a husband doing his bit back in Auburn.
    1927 L. Mayer Just between us Girls vii. 43 Honestly those nobilities can make love divinely.
    1948 W. S. Maugham Catalina (1958) ii. 18 Her lover Diego no longer came to the window at night to make love to her through the iron grille.
    1972 B. Everitt Cold Front v. 38 ‘Are we conversing or making love?’‥ ‘Let’s go into the slow lane for a minute.’
    1991 S. Cisneros Woman Hollering Creek 153 Ay! To make love in Spanish, in a manner as intricate and devout as la Alhambra.

    Iar acum “to make love” in sensul de sex:

    (b) orig. U.S. To engage in sexual intercourse, esp. considered as an act of love. Freq. with to, with.

    1927 J. S. Bolan Deposition in L. Schlissel 3 Plays Mae West (1997) 218 Jimmy embraces Margie LaMont and goes through with her the business of making love to her by lying on top of her on a couch, each embracing the other.
    1929 E. Hemingway Farewell to Arms xviii. 114 Besides all the big times we had many small ways of making love and we tried putting thoughts in the other one’s head while we were in different rooms.
    1934 ‘G. Orwell’ Burmese Days iv. 54 Why is master always so angry with me when he has made love to me?
    1950 M. Peake Gormenghast xxix. 173 One of the Carvers made love to her and she had a baby.
    1967 B. Wright tr. R. Queneau Between Blue & Blue xiv. 151 When you make love on a bunk,‥the man has to bump his head.
    1971 Daily Tel. 15 Jan. 17/1 Couples who make love frequently are more likely to have sons than those who do so less often.
    1986 D. Johnson Stars at Noon (1987) i. 17 Making love with him was like passing through a patch of fog.
    1999 T. Parsons Man & Boy (2000) ii. 19 We were making love on the floor—or the futon, as Gina called it

  2. In plus, sensul de “a curta” e mai potrivit contextului, pentru ca viziunea sociala pe care o are in minte Wilde este una foarte demonstrativa si teatrala, in care, intr-adevar, pentru a tortura una dintre femei, trebuie s-o curtezi public pe alta.

  3. Nu stiu daca imi va fi publicat comentariul anterior, pentru ca era lung, insa spuneam ca sensul de “sex” a fost consemnat doar incepand din 1927, si e de origine americana, dupa care s-a generalizat.

    De secole inainte, sensul principal a fost “a curta”, ceea ce da dreptate traducatorului.

  4. Traducerea este o artă în sine. Am mare respect pentru traducătorii dăruiţi. Las’ că alţii au nenorocit textele originale făcând traduceri proaste.

    În cazul de faţă, traducătorul din 1969 era nevoit să traducă ,,eufemistic”. Cenzura nu s-ar fi excitat deloc, ba dimpotrivă, dacă tipul nu executa o traducere,,morală”. Se putea alege chiar cu o castrare intelectuală sau cine mai ştie… În 1969 erotismul verbal era cum era, în 2011 erotismul este cum este. Atunci era prea puţin, acum e prea ecranat, prea sintetic. Imaginaţia textual-erotică la români este modestă aş spune, hihihi…

    http://evaziunispontane.blogspot.com/2011/02/cei-mai-iubiti-sunt-cei-care-seduc-prin.html

  5. eh, daca e sa ne uitam si la cum scria wilde in general, as inclina si eu sa spun ca e putin cam prea…pudic. adica nici el in epoca nu era cunoscut pentru cele mai cumintele scrieri :d:d

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