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Article published In:
Target
Vol. 17:2 (2005) ► pp.327–347

Robert Graves’s Claudian novels

A case of pseudotranslation

| Hogeschool Gent & Universiteit Gent

The article outlines the relevance of pseudotranslation for Translation Studies, using a case study of the novels I, Claudius and Claudius, the God by Robert Graves. The paper provides a list of partly overlapping motivations for adopting pseudotranslation and illustrates this motivation paradigm on the basis of particular findings in Graves’s novels: if an author wants to attribute a pseudotranslation to an existing person, the author has to account for stylistic differences between the pseudotranslation and genuine texts by that person. By claiming to translate from a different source language than the language normally used by the existing person, the author of the pseudotranslation can mask those stylistic divergences.

Keywords: pseudotranslation, fictitious translation, literary translation, translation norms, cultural planning
Article outline
  • 0.Introduction
  • 1.Pseudotranslation
    • 1.1Definition of pseudotranslation
    • 1.2Importance of pseudotranslation to Translation Studies
    • 1.3Motivations for using pseudotranslation
  • 2.Pseudotranslation in the Claudian novels
    • 2.1Robert Graves and the Claudian novels
    • 2.2Features enhancing the translation reading
    • 2.3Features enhancing the original author reading
  • 3.Motivation for the double approach
    • 3.1Motivation for using pseudotranslation in the Claudian novels
    • 3.2Specific motivation
  • 4.Cultural planning
    • 4.1Direct influence on Allan Massie’s novels
    • 4.2Influence of I, Claudius on Augustus
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 15 August 2006
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/target.17.2.06dup
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