Lily Peters
Member
Would Shakespeare have been translated into French and Gaelic in 1912? Thank you for your help.
~Lily~
~Lily~
Shakespeare
- Thread starter Lily Peters
- Start date
Senan Molony
Member
'Tis all Greek to me.
(Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene II).
Actually I can speak with some confidence that there would have been no Shakespeare translation into Irish (Gaelic) in 1912. Highly unlikely.
(Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene II).
Actually I can speak with some confidence that there would have been no Shakespeare translation into Irish (Gaelic) in 1912. Highly unlikely.
Marilyn Lena Penner
Member
I just read in a book titled "Napoleon and Josephine" that Nap didn't care for Shakespeare. He thought his plots were hackneyed.
But then, he didn't care for anything English.
http://aurora.wells.edu/~klarson/papers/mla88.htm
This is lengthy and scholarly, but from what I scanned of it, there appears to have been a French translation of some Shakespeare plays in 1776.
I wish I could find the site of the translation of "Twelfth Night" into German.
Hoping to read your story. It sounds like it will have a firm factual base.
But then, he didn't care for anything English.
http://aurora.wells.edu/~klarson/papers/mla88.htm
This is lengthy and scholarly, but from what I scanned of it, there appears to have been a French translation of some Shakespeare plays in 1776.
I wish I could find the site of the translation of "Twelfth Night" into German.
Hoping to read your story. It sounds like it will have a firm factual base.
Senan Molony
Member
>>his plots were hackneyed.<<
And he was full of clichés.
And he was full of clichés.
Lily Peters
Member
So the Irish boarding Titanic wouldn't know of Shakespeare, but the French would?
~Lily~
~Lily~
Inger Sheil
Member
Senan can elaborate more, Lily, but I suspect at least some of the Irish boarding at Queenstown would have been familiar with Shakespeare - but through the original English rather than through a Gaelic translation.
The Gaelic language had declined in use up until the Gaelic Revival movement of the late 19th/early 20th Century - a movement that really gained momentum with the formation of the Gaelic League in 1893. Gaelic language revival was at the core of Irish cultural nationalism, and had a key role in Irish nationalism itself. I imagine - and Sen can correct me here - that given that background, an English playwright would be an unlikely choice for a Gaelic translation at that particular time.
The Gaelic language had declined in use up until the Gaelic Revival movement of the late 19th/early 20th Century - a movement that really gained momentum with the formation of the Gaelic League in 1893. Gaelic language revival was at the core of Irish cultural nationalism, and had a key role in Irish nationalism itself. I imagine - and Sen can correct me here - that given that background, an English playwright would be an unlikely choice for a Gaelic translation at that particular time.
Lily Peters
Member
Well, it's helpful that one of the characters in the novel can speak both English and Gaelic, so she very well could've encountered Shakespeare in English. I'm not sure if Shakespeare's work was translated into French, though... Thank you, Inger!
~Lily~
~Lily~
Lily Peters
Member
Another question: would Shakespeare plays have been made into anthologies?
~Lily~
~Lily~
Shelley Dziedzic
Member
There were bound Gilded Age collections of sonnets, and of the plays, sometimes grouped as the Comedies, the Tragedies, etc. Yes, there were also French translations in text and performed on the French stage. The great Sarah Bernhardt (Rosine Bernard)made a lasting impression as Cordelia in KIng Lear (Le Roi Lear)back in 1867, and took the title role of Hamlet herself in 1899.
Shelley Dziedzic
Member
There were translations existing of Shakespeare as early as 1604, and by 1912, some plays, especially Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Julius Caesar and Othello, existed in translations in German, (the first non-English translation of Romeo and Juliet), Portuguese (1607), Dutch, French (1645), Russian (1748), Italian (1756), Polish (1788),Hungarian (1797),Spanish (1798),Romanian (1848),Greek (1856),Serbian (1860),Icelandic (1878)Czech (1883) and Finnish (1879). As yet, I can't find any Gaelic translations of Shakespeare by 1912. Senan- got a free moment?!
Lily Peters
Member
Thank you, Shelley, I will relay this information to my friend and coauthor. This will only improve the historical accuracy of the novel!
~Lily~
~Lily~
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