Translation and Original: A Symbiotic Relationship?

Abstract

This paper analyses the Italian translation of Asupra traducţiei lui Omer [On the Translation of Homer], the preface written by I. Heliade Rădulescu in 1837 to accompany the first Romanian translation of Homer’s Iliad, carried out by Constantin Aristia. As the investigation intends to demonstrate, the preface constitutes one of the representative texts of Heliade Rădulescu’s conception of translation practice during the formative phase of the modern Romanian language and literary system. Particular attention is devoted to identifying the elements that reveal the interdependence established by Heliade Rădulescu between creative writing and translational writing, an interdependence that gives rise to a form of symbiosis between original and translated literature.