Re-mapping the transnational spread of the novel: French pseudo-translations in German translation (1731-1776).

This project offers an original contribution to our understanding of the Rise of the Novel through a comparative analysis of some 40 French pseudotranslations from English works and their German translations published between 1731 and 1776. The projects merit lies in the combination of a theoretical reflection on the rather unexplored concept of pseudotranslation and a discursive analysis of the status and the function of pseudo-translations, which played a pivotal role in literary history by contributing to the Rise of the ("European") Novel in the 18th century. First, I shall study the (para-)textual strategies applied by "pseudo-translators" in order to support the emergence of the novel in a hostile literary environment. A second set of research questions addresses the representativeness of the pseudo-translations, which are actually textual constructs by a French author, rather than the results of a faithful transfer between languages (and cultures) which they pretend to be. Finally, a comparative analysis with the German translations shall reassess the pseudotranslations contribution to the novels emergence, by inscribing it for the first time in a decidedly transnational perspective.

Keywords:Comparative literature discourse analys, 18th century literature, Pseudotranslation, Historical poetics of the novel, Translation studies, Rise of the (European) Novel

Disciplines:Language studies, Literary studies, Theory and methodology of language studies, Theory and methodology of linguistics, Theory and methodology of literary studies, Other languages and literary studies