Between family and vassalage: a case of cross-temporal translation in Decameron X, 10

Abstract

Every translation implies, itself, an endless number of difficulties caused by the separation between the audience of the ST and that of the TT. However, this problem is greater when we refer to literary texts and infinitely more notable when it comes to works whose date of composition dates back centuries, that is, when we are facing a cross-temporal translation process.

It is true that these types of texts usually present particular pitfalls, but their translators have also a series of disciplines which must be considered related to translation and which stand as extremely valuable tools.

The present article, after briefly presenting these instruments, applies them to a passage of Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron, specifically to the fragment X, 10, 30-33, in whose translation to different languages some peculiarities can be observed.