Early Modern Indirections: An Open Door to Forms and Uses of Indirect Translation

Abstract

The paper explores the role of different forms of translation in the historical movement of ideas. Its main object of study is Abraham Rogerius’ description of Hinduism, first published in Dutch in 1651 and soon translated into German and French. Both translations add material provided independently by the translator. The German version and its addenda left echoes in a German oriental novel that was, in its turn, translated. An abridgement of the French version became part of a survey of the world’s religions that was also translated in its turn and helped shape the Enlightenment. The main aim of my paper is to document the various modes of translation, adaptation and appropriation that enabled this dissemination.