Translation and Tradition: the Translator as Mediator between Two Literary Systems

Abstract

This paper discusses the impact of translation on literary traditions and the sociological elements which contribute to the shift of the canon. The effort of translation to enlarge and enrich a literary system makes it a powerful tool for the introduction of new aesthetics and trends as well as the ideology implied in them. A translation of a literary work is, in fact, a criticism of that work, a point of view on the author and the text. Poggioli's idea that translation is an interpretative art, like music, half way between reproduction or craft and a complete original creation is vital for this approach.