Am Rande der Literatur: Übersetzungen historischer Texte vom Deutschen ins Rumänische im Zeitalter der Aufklärung

Abstract

On the Edge of Literature: Translations of Historical Texts from German into

Romanian during the Enlightenment

The aim of this article is to explore the cultural background and specifi cities of the Romanian Enlightenment as illustrated by the secular translations of the period. More specifi cally, the article focuses on the analysis of two German-Romanian translations of historical texts, which, depending on the intention of the translator and the target audience, undergo a series of mutations from source to target text. In this way, the original German historical texts become Romanian writings on the fringes of literature, whose main purpose is not to present a precise chronology of historical facts, but to suggest, in a form of narrative history, the prototypical heroic traits of a Romanian ruler. As Romanians were searching for a national identity at the turn of the 19th century, these translations could be seen as a form of national propaganda. To illustrate this phenomenon, the article presents examples from two short translations by the Romanian historian Damaschin Bojinca from the Austrian chronicle by Johann Christian Engel, Geschichte der Moldau und Walachey.