Un ejemplo de traducción del género ensayístico español: la obra Idearium español de Ángel Ganivet (1897) y su traducción al inglés como Spain: an interpretation (1946)

Abstract

This work, which explores the translation of the Spanish essay genre, aims primarily to carry out a contrastive analysis of Ángel Ganivet’s Idearium español (published in 1897) and its translation into English by J. M. Carey as Spain: an interpretation (made in 1925 but published in 1946). This work, one of the main examples of the Spanish contemporary essay genre and a reference work of the so-called “Generation of 1898”, contains a large number of cultural and historical references about Spain, which create particular challenges for translation in its transfer to other languages. The study firstly approaches the historical and cultural context in which Ganivet’s work is conceived and examines the figure of the author and the main characteristics of his essay, in order to justify the relevance of the work and its idiosyncrasy. Finally, a comparative analysis of the original work in Spanish and its translation into English will be carried out, paying special attention to the lexical level and the cultural elements that may appear in the essay. A special emphasis will be made on the translation procedures used, so that we can establish conclusions about the adequacy of the choices made by the translation and the result of the translated version.