Tradurre la critica d'arte del XIX secolo: proposta di traduzione di due saggi delle Œuvres posthumes di G.-Albert Aurier

Abstract

The translation of art criticism is a topic which, unfortunately, appears to have been overlooked by translation theorists and scholars over the years. The present work aims at offering a translation of two essays contained in Œuvres posthumes, the posthumous essay collection by G.-Albert Aurier, one of the most influential French Symbolist art critics of the 19th century, and illustrating some of the challenges a translator has to face when translating art criticism. This dissertation consists of four chapters. The first one gives an overview of the cultural and historical context in which the essays were written and the influence that Aurier’s theory has had on art history. Then, the second focuses on translation theory as a whole, on the definition of art criticism as a genre and the problems it can pose to translators, while the following chapter contains the translation of the two essays. Finally, the fourth chapter is a commentary on my translation, discussing the main difficulties I encountered – i.e. terminology, style and register and intertextuality – and some examples taken from the target texts portraying the way in which I tried to solve them