17th century

The 17^th century emphasis on order and reason is reflected in translation also. There was large scale translation of classics. A prominent writer on translation of these times was Sir John Denham. He believed that the writer and translator were on equal footing; the task of the translator was to extract the essence of the SL text and reproduce it with maximum effect in the TL. He believed that the translator could take a few liberties in the process. He was supported in this by his contemporary Abraham Cowley who was also a poet and translator.

But the main figure in this age is that of John Dryden who was an influential critic and poet. He outlined three basic methods of translation:

• Metaphrase: Word for word translation

• Paraphrase: Sense for sense (figurative) translation

• Imitation: This is basically like adaptation where the SL text is set aside and recreated in the TL

Dryden personally preferred the paraphrase method which was the middle path between the other two. He also had a set of criteria to evaluate the skill of a translator. He believed that only a poet could translate another poet effectively. S/he must be skilled in both languages and be able to understand both SL and TL cultures well. S/he is like a portrait painter who had the duty to reproduce a fairly accurate picture of his/her original. We find the notion of the ‘master writer’ and ‘servant translator’ beginning to emerge.

The notion of translator as imitator or painter of a portrait had primacy in the 18^th century. The belief was that translator/translation was not ‘original’. The translator had a moral duty both to his/her original and also to the reader to capture the spirit of the SL text. Paradoxically for this age, Alexander Pope who translated Homer, believed that a few liberties can be taken in the translation in the attempt to make the TL reader understand the original.

We can discern a shift in perspective now.  In the 15th-16th centuries, the translator could undertake translations without even knowing the SL and could treat the SL text a bit flippantly. By the 18^th century translator was expected to be an expert in the SL and its culture. Translation was seen as derivative and secondary and expected to convey the SL text fairly accurately. A person who shared this view was the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. He believed in three methods of translation:

• The first ‘acquaints us with foreign countries on our own terms’

• The second is when the translator captures the essence of the original but reproduces it in his/her terms

• The third one makes the SL and TL texts almost similar; the translation will capture the spirit of the original but will have an existence of its own