1 of 10

 Alexander F. Tytler �Essay on the Principles of Translation

Cláudia Santos

Núria Mandane

2 of 10

Order

Introduction

01

Translator

02

The Rules

03

Conclusion

04

Who is Alexander Tytler?

Why is he relevant?

What is his duty?!

What are the rules for tranlating?

A quick summary

3 of 10

Introduction

01

.

Who is Alexander Tytler? Why is he relevant?

4 of 10

   Alexander �Tytler

  • Lord Woodhouselee
  • 15th October 1747
  • "Essay on the Principles of Translation" (1790)
    • The first extended thesis on translation written in English
    • Standard work in English criticism

5 of 10

Translator

02

.

What is his duty?

6 of 10

Translator

  • The translator should have the authority to add to the original text to enhance it.
    • In poetry, the translator could make the translation superior to the original by removing any flaws.

​

  • The translator is  responsible for presenting the original author's work in its best possible form.

​

“(…) it is the duty of a translator to attend only to the sense and spirit of his original, to make himself perfectly master of his author’s ideas, and to communicate them in those expressions which he judges to be best suited to convey them.”

“That, in which the merit of the original work is so completely transfused into another language, as to be as distinctly apprehended, and as strongly felt, by a native of the country to which that language belongs, as it is by those who speak the language of the original work.”

7 of 10

The Rules

03

What are the rules for translating?

8 of 10

First General Rule

The Rules

Second General Rule

Third General Rule

  • Necessity of Language and Subject Knowledge

​

  • Dealing with Ambiguity

​

  • Adding or Removing from Original Ideas

​

  • Correcting Inaccuracies

​

  • Caution in Using Liberties
  • Recognizing the Author's Style

​

  • Reproducing the Author's Style

​

  • Dangers of Exaggeration

​

  • Limitations on Imitation
  • Translating with Grace and Freedom

​

  • Adopting the Author's Soul

​

  • Challenges in Idiomatic Phrases

9 of 10

Conclusion

10 of 10

Bibliography

  • Tytler, A. F. (1791). Essay on the Principles of Translation.

​