A Királyi ajándék fordítói és fordításai
The Royal Gift - Translations and Translators

Summary/Abstract: The article looks at different translations of an early modern bestseller, King James VI and I’s book on kingship, Basilicon Doron (1599.) These translations were constitutive elements in shaping the perception of the king and his political agenda at home and on the continent, as James himself intended. But it was also central to attempts at influencing that same agenda, to different diplomatic manoeuvrings forerunning the outbreak of the Thirty Years War. Much recent interest in translation is connected to studying the effects of colonialism, and the relationships between dominant and less privileged cultures, with the source-language typically belonging to the former, while the target language belonging to the latter culture. This inquiry into a small corpus of early modern translation raises a different possibility: that translation could-be a two-directional process of communication, involving attempts at “talking back”, at enlisting the author of the original – or his image at least – to different local agendas. This is typically the case when Basilikon Doron, the “royal gift” is translated and re-dedicated to a royal figure, be that James himself or some other holder of political power.

• Details
• Contents