Quaderni di JEMS Journal of Early Modern Studies -1- This supplementary volume to JEMS is part of an ongoing research pro- Denton John ject which began with a series of articles published by the author in the 1990s on the translation of Classical historical texts in Renaissance Eng- land. The methodology followed is that of Descriptive Translation Studies as developed by scholars such as Lefevere and Hermans with the accent on manipulation of the source text in line with the ideological stance of Translation and Manipulation in Renaissance England the translator and the need to ensure that readers of the translation re- ceived the ‘correct’ moral lessons. Particular attention is devoted to a case study of the strategies followed in Thomas North’s domesticating English translation of Jacques Amyot’s French translation of Plutarch’s Lives and the consequences for Shakespeare’s perception of Plutarch. Translation and Manipulation in Renaissance England John Denton John Denton was associate professor of English Language and Translation JEMS 1-2016 at the University of Florence until retirement in 2015. He has published on contrastive analysis, history of translation (with special reference to Early Modern England), religious discourse, literary and audiovisual translation. FUP firenze university press ISSN 2279-7149 2016 Università degli Studi di Firenze Dipartimento di Lingue, Letterature e Studi Interculturali Biblioteca di Studi di Filologia Moderna: Collana, Riviste e Laboratorio journal of early modern studies Quaderni di JEMS – 1 – 2016 FIRENZE UNIVERSITY PRESS Quaderni di Jems, 1 Supplemento di Journal of Early Modern Studies, 1-2016 Editors Donatella Pallotti, University of Florence Paola Pugliatti, University of Florence Journal Manager Arianna Antonielli, University of Florence Advisory Board Arianna Antonielli, University of Florence Janet Clare, University of Hull Jeanne Clegg, University of Venice Ca’ Foscari Louise George Clubb, University of California, Berkeley Gabriella Del Lungo Camiciotti, University of Florence Lucia Felici, University of Florence Tina Krontiris, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki Corinne Lucas Fiorato, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3 Adelisa Malena, University of Venice Ca’ Foscari Natascia Tonelli, University of Siena Editorial Board Arianna Antonielli, University of Florence Luca Baratta, University of Florence John Denton, University of Florence Alessandro Melis, University of Florence Donatella Pallotti, University of Florence Paola Pugliatti, University of Florence Translation and Manipulation in Renaissance England John Denton Translation and Manipulation in Renaissance England - John Denton Journal of Early Modern Studies. - n. 1, 2016 - Supplemento, 1 ISSN 2279-7149 ISBN 978-88-6453-411-4 (online) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.13128/JEMS-2279-7149-19761 Direttore Responsabile: Beatrice Töttössy Registrazione al Tribunale di Firenze: N. 5818 del 21/02/2011 Il supplemento è pubblicato on-line ad accesso aperto al seguente indirizzo: www.fupress.com/bsfm-jems The products of the Publishing Committee of Biblioteca di Studi di Filologia Moderna: Collana, Riviste e Laboratorio (<http://www.lilsi.unifi.it/vp-82-laboratorio-editoriale-open-access-ricerca- formazione-e-produzione.html>) are published with financial support from the Department of Languages, Literatures and Intercultural Studies of the University of Florence, and in accordance with the agreement, dated February 10th 2009 (updated February 19th 2015), between the Department, the Open Access Publishing Workshop and Firenze University Press. The Workshop promotes the development of OA publishing and its application in teaching and career advice for undergraduates, graduates, and PhD students in the area of foreign languages and literatures, as well as providing training and planning services. The Workshop’s publishing team are responsible for the editorial workflow of all the volumes and journals published in the Biblioteca di Studi di Filologia Moderna series. Jems employs the double-blind peer review process. For further information please visit the journal homepage (<www.fupress.com/bsfm-jems>). Editing: The Open Access Publishing Workshop (<[email protected]>) with Arianna Antonielli and the trainees Flavia Di Mauro and Costantino Sferrazza Graphic design: Alberto Pizarro Fernández, Pagina Maestra Peer Review Process All publications are submitted to an external refereeing process under the responsibility of the FUP Editorial Board and the Scientific Committees of the individual series. The works published in the FUP catalogue are evaluated and approved by the Editorial Board of the publishing house. For a more detailed description of the refereeing process we refer to the official documents published on the website and in the online catalogue of the FUP (www.fupress.com). Firenze University Press Editorial Board G. Nigro (Co-ordinator), M.T. Bartoli, M. Boddi, R. Casalbuoni, C. Ciappei, R. Del Punta, A. Dolfi , V. Fargion, S. Ferrone, M. Garzaniti, P. Guarnieri, A. Mariani, M. Marini, A. Novelli, M.C. Torricelli, M. Verga, A. Zorzi. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial – No Derivatives - 4.0 Italia License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode) CC 2016 Firenze University Press Università degli Studi di Firenze Firenze University Press via Cittadella, 7, 50144 Firenze, Italy www.fupress.com Journal of Early Modern Studies, Supplement 1-2016 ISSN 2279-7149 Contents Preface 7 1. Introduction. Research on Translation in Renaissance England: An Overview of Recent Developments 9 2. Changing Clothes, Opening Windows and Letting in Light. Describing the Process and Purpose of Translation in Metaphorical Terms in the English Renaissance 23 3. Translation and Manipulation of Ancient History in Renaissance England 33 4. Domesticating Plutarch’s Parallel Lives for Elizabethan Readers: Thomas North’s Translation of Jacques Amyot’s Translation 43 5. Shakespeare’s Perception of Plutarch via North: Examples from Coriolanus 53 Postscript. Thomas North’s Successors: 400 years of English trans- lations of Plutarch’s Parallel Lives 65 Appendix 69 Conclusion 73 Works Cited 75 Index of Names 99 Journal of Early Modern Studies, Supplement 1-2016 ISSN 2279-7149 Preface In a recent study devoted to Shakespeare and Classical Antiquity, Col- in Burrow (2013, 270) notes, with reference to the reception (or af- terlife) of Classical authors, that it ‘does finally seem to be recognized as a valuable way of studying classical literature by all but the most stubborn reactionaries in classical departments’.Classical Reception Among other Journal devel- opments, the setting up in the UK of the Classical Studies ReceptionThe Ox- fordNetwork History in 2004, of Classical the publication Reception of in the English Literature as of 2009 and the second volume of a planned five volumeInternational set of Journal of the Classical Tradition ( Cheney and Hardie, eds, 2015), following on from the earlier and the Institute for the Classical Tradition at Boston University and the University of Tübingen, have undoubt- edly enlivened Classical Studies along the lines originally set out by the glorious Warburg Institute (in London since 1934, where it has long since expanded its interests beyond the visual arts). In their in- troduction to a recent Companion volume on ‘Classical receptions’ the authors state: ‘By “receptions” we mean the ways in which Greek and Roman material has been transmitted, translated, excerpted, inter- preted,Journal rewritten, of Early re-imagedModern Studies and represented’ ( Hardwick and Stray 2008, 1). The key word for my aims in presenting this supplement to the is ‘translated’. In the chapters that follow most attention is devoted to the reception of Classical historical texts in Renaissance England and in particular the perception of one of the most popular writers ( Plutarch) by Shakespeare via vernacu- lar translation, in which manipulative domestication played a domi- nant strategical role. The following chapters draw, to some extent, on previously pub- lished material dating mostly from the 1990s listed in the references section at the end of the volume ( Denton 1992a onwards). Much of the material in these publications was discussed at conferences, sem- inars and follow up of lectures at the universities of Rome (La Sapi- enza), Catania, Parma, Milan (Gargnano sul Garda), Ragusa, Florence, 8 Translation and Manipulation in Renaissance England East Anglia (Norwich), Vienna, Boston (USA), Arras and Warsaw. I am happy to recall many hours of discussion on problems of translation studies with colleagues in what has now become my former depart- ment at Florence University (especially, Nicholas Brownlees, Fiorenzo Fantaccini, Donatella Pallotti and Christine Richardson). My thanks are due to one of the anonymous referees of the pre-publication man- uscript for reminding me, among other things, of the ancient origins of the ‘wh-JEMS questions’ discussed in Chapter 1. Last, but certainly not least, I am very grateful to Paola Pugliatti and Donatella Pallotti, the editors of for accepting this supplement to the Journal for publi- cation and for their patience in waiting for the goods to be delivered. John Denton, Florence, April 2016 Journal of Early Modern Studies, Supplement 1-2016 ISSN 2279-7149 1. Introduction. Research on Translation in Renaissance England: An Overview of Recent Developments A remarkable development of the last decade or so has been an ever