Two different languages of translation: Josep Carner’s two versions of «El malalt imaginari» (1905/1909 and 1921)

Abstract

Abstract: This article offers a detailed critical comparison of the literary languages deployed by Josep Carner in two different Catalan versions of Molières’s Le Malade imaginaire. The first one, published in 1909, had been made in 1905 for a stage production by Adrià Gual; the second one was published in 1921 in Biblioteca Literària, a series of literary works in translation supervised by Carner himself. The main interest in comparing them lies in the fact that this is not a case of mere revision but a case of retranslation, and one which presents interesting cultural aspects. Not only had a stringent and thorough renewal of written Catalan taken place in the years between the two versions, led by Pompeu Fabra, but Carner had also changed his whole approach to the task of translation in respect of both its practice and its goals, in connection with the potential growth of literary language on the basis of this reform.

Key words: 20th century literary Catalan, languages of translation, Josep Carner, Pompeu Fabra.