Temporal distance is a key problem in the translation of old literary texts,
though still neglected in the theory of translation. The attempt to define and
classify this problem is illustrated through examples from contemporary
translations of Italian Renaissance texts. There are no corresponding linguistic
and stylistic sources in Serbian literature to draw from, and yet an adequate
rendering is possible by creating hybrids (archuic lexical and morphosyntactic
forms, stylized neologisms) and associations (to originals and translations which
are felt as traditional today - no matter when they were written - in the TL
literature.
Within temporal distance, primary distance - as sensed and created by the
author - should be understood and recreated by the translator, whilst secondary
distance relates principally to reader understanding and arises from the time lapse
between the origina1 and its contemporary recreation. Both distances can be
manifested in nine basic types: frequent and absolute archaisms; poetic
archaisms; reminiscences; idioms; jargon; cultura1 interference; genre-constrictions;
semantic archaisms; and elements of myth and fairy-tale. The
author believes that the results of her research could help translators and
translation theorists to gain a clearer insight into the many questions that
temporal distance poses, as well as to find more possible answers.
