TY - JOUR
TI - Eros with a Veneer: Translating Erotica in Ancient Comedy
AU - Skwara, Ewa
TI - Eros with a Veneer: Translating Erotica in Ancient Comedy
AB - Using Plautus’ comedies as an example, the article shows how the translation of erotica has varied depending on the dominant habits and customs of a given period. It underlines two opposite trends: one allows an increasing license to evoke fantasy; the other inhibits the graphic and vulgar side of the texts (especially in the choice of language). If an erotic pun in the original evokes only sexual associations and allusions, translators often feel obliged to be bold in their rendering of the text. But there can be no consenting to the use of vulgar language. On the one hand, translators are hindered by the conviction that language of the characters in ancient plays should not appear too modern. On the other hand, dictionaries offer a practically biblical (or merely archaic) vocabulary when it comes to the obscene. In effect, erotica usually tends to sound more archaic than the rest of the text.
VL - Issues in English
IS - Special Issue 2013 – Selection from the Archives
PY - 2013
SN - 1425-6851
C1 - 1689-1864
SP - 47
EP - 55
DO - 10.4467/16891864ePC.13.036.1453
UR - https://ejournals.eu/en/journal/przekladaniec/article/eros-with-a-veneer-translating-erotica-in-ancient-comedy
KW - ancient comedy
KW - erotica in translation
KW - Plautine comedy in Polish translation
KW - Plautus