When a text is both a pseudotranslation and a translation ; the enlightening case of Matteo Maria Boiardo (1441-1494)

Abstract

Toury's discussion of pseudotranslation may be taken further by addressing the following question: Can we really establish a clear demarcation between pseudotranslations and genuine translations when texts are of mixed mode (i.e. translation and fabrication)? To answer this, we build on Pym's elaboration of a working definition of translation. This will then be tested by looking at a text from the early Italian Renaissance that has been considered by many contemporary scholars a pseudotranslation: Matteo Maria Boiardo's Historia Imperiale (1471-1473). This study shows that the various conceptions of what counts as translation in different societies and historical periods (e.g. the Renaissanc..