31(1) - 2019
Les Mille Nuits et Une Nuit : une « traduction littérale et complète du texte arabe » ?
Christian Balliu
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Version HTML du résumé et des mots-clés [English]:
Titre
The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night: A “plain and literal translation of the Arabic text”?
Résumé
The Arabian Nights was first translated into French by Antoine Galland (1704-1717). His translation was a “belle infidèle”, i.e., it tried to adapt its form and its content to the tastes of the respectable French society of the day. About two centuries later, Joseph-Charles Mardrus also translated The Arabian Nights into French (1899-1904), allegedly making a “literal and complete translation from the Arabic.” This paper proposes to show, with numerous examples, that Mardrus actually gives the reader a biased version of the original, as his translation is indeed loaded with exotic fantasies about the Orient. His translation, in other words, is as unfaithful as Galland’s.
Mots-clés
Mardrus, The Arabian Nights, the imaginary Orient, literal translation, faithfulness