„Idegen szülöttet [...] csempész a családi név alá”

Abstract

The study formulates hypotheses for a more extensive historical examination of the connections and relations of names and translation within the Hungarian cultural heritage. It highlights that literary and non-literary (that is, of other types of texts) translation practices are more closely related than previously suggested by the cultural sciences of the 20th century. This is supported by the practices, strategies, and versions of Hungarian literary and non-literary translations, although the context of a literary work often puts a special emphasis on the name (proper names) and in some cases encourages methods that are rare or unusual in non-literary texts. In this case, however, it is not the translation orthe translator that acts differently, but the name, because the relationship between text (work of art) and language is different in literature than in other cultural texts, and the translation seeks to maintain and mediate this relationship. Hungarian literary studies have not dealt extensively with the issues of name translation. However, the concept and phenomenon of names has played and continues to play a significant role in thinking about literary translation (in theories of literary translation). This is illustrated, for example, by how practical experiences with translating names, like the “translation” (Magyarization) of names and costumes in plays, encouraged a rethinking of the relationship between translation and identity beginning in the 19th century (through the metaphor of a name as clothing). In addition, the highly metaphorical language of translation studies was deeply influenced by autonomasia (Hungarian Shakespeare, Hungarian Molière etc.), which played a significant role in depicting the elusive relationship between original and translation, author and translator.