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P. E. Isert in German, French, and English: A Comparison of Translations1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 May 2014

Extract

Paul Erdmann Isert's Reise nach Guinea und den Caribäischen Inseln in Columbien (Copenhagen 1788) seems to have enjoyed a lively reception, considering the number of translations, both complete and abridged, which appeared shortly after the original. Written in German, in Gothic script, it was quickly ‘lifted over’ into the Roman alphabet in the translations (into Scandinavian languages, Dutch, and French), thus making it available to an even greater public than a purely German-reading one. In the course of my research for the first English translation, I have found that the greatest number of references to Reise in modern bibliographies have been to the French translation, Voyages en Guinée (Paris, 1793). This indicates a greater availability of the translation, a greater degree of competence/ease in reading French than the German in its original form, or both. The 1793 translation has recently been issued in a modern reprint, with the orthography modernized and with an introduction and notes by Nicoué Gayibor. Having recently completed my own translation, I have now had the opportunity to examine the 1793 edition more closely, and have noticed a number of variations and divergencies from the original. I would like to examine these here, largely as an illustration of problems in translation, using both a copy of the 1793 edition and the new reprint. The latter, barring a few orthographical errors—confusion of f's and s's—is true to its predecessor.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 1992

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Footnotes

1.

I am indebted to Finn Fuglestad for proofreading my translations from the French.

References

Notes

1. I am indebted to Finn Fuglestad for proofreading my translations from the French.

2. Danish, translation in the collection Gyldendals Samling af de bedste og nyeste Reisebeskrivelser i Udtog, 3: 247512 (Copenhagen, 1789)Google Scholar; Reise nach Guinea und den Caribäischen Inseln (Berlin and Leipzig 1790)Google Scholar; Reize na Guinea en de Carabische Eilanden (Dordrecht, 1790)Google Scholar; Voyages en Guinée (Paris, 1793)Google Scholar; Bref om Guinea-Kusten och Caraibiske Öarne (Stockholm, 1795)Google Scholar; Reize van Koppenhagen naar Guinea (Amsterdam, 1797).Google Scholar

3. Letters on West Africa and the Slave Trade: Paul Erdmann Isert's Journey to Guinea and the Caribbean Islands in Columbia, 1788 (London, 1992).Google Scholar

4. Voyages en Guinée et dans les îles Caraibes en Amérique (Paris, 1989).Google Scholar

5. See note 2.

6. Henige, David, “In Quest of Error's Sly Imprimatur: The Concept of ‘Authorial Intent’ in Modern Textual Criticism,” HA 14 (1987): 8889.Google Scholar

7. In 1793 the French livre and the Danish pound were almost equal; 100 Dan. lbs. = 102 French livres. See Gerhardt, M. R. B., Almindelig Contorist (2 vols.: Copenhagen, 17981799), 1: 164, 223.Google Scholar Thus, the discrepancy in the French translation, with its neat factor of 3, is inexplicable.

8. A very rough tally from my working notes indicates the following totals; errors, 156; omissions, 168; additions, 59; significant variations in style, 148.