Indianski mudroznanac (1825) and Indianzki mudroznanecz (1833) in a very successful European literary myistification

Abstract

The paper deals with two Croatian translations of the so-called "Lord Chesterfield": Slavonian Indianski mudroznanac (1825) by Martin Pustaić-Marijan Jaić and Kajkavian Indianzki mudroznanecz (1833) by Josip Marić. Both translations are part of a wider European phenomenon of translations, imitations and adaptations of "Indian philosopher" whose authorship until recently was attributed to Lord Chesterfield. The real author,however, was the English writer and publisher Robert Dodsley, and the book was The Oeconomy of Human Life (1750/1751), which by the end of the eighteenth century had been translated into several European languages and had appeared in about 200 editions. It was a true literary mystification, so successful that the question of authorship was resolved only recently. The purpose of this paper is therefore: 1. to deal with the question of authorship, the English original as well as the models for the Croatian translations; 2. to determine the question of the structure and content of the Croatian translations, compared with the original and the models; 3. to frame the social and literary context of the emergence and diffusion of the original and the Croatian translations. The methodology used: the analysis and comparison of the original, of the models of the Croatian editions and the analysis of the Croatian translations themselves; comparison with the other South Slavic translations; consideration of the Croatian and other South Slavic interpretations. The most important results and conclusions: the establishment of the author, the original and the models of Slavonian and Kajkavian translations (and the other South Slavic translations since this was a broader phenomenon); the definition of the social and literary context: instead of the introduction of Eastern philosophy into Croatian culture; the Slavonian and the Kajkavian translations represent yet another participation of Croatia in the European literary trends by simply being part of this successful literary mystification.