Les gravures de “La grant nef des folz du monde” (8 février 1499/1500): quel rôle pour l’adaptation en français de la “Stultifera navis” de Jakob Locher?

Abstract

This paper intends to analyse the way the woodcuts from Sebastian Brant’s Narrenschiff play a role in the transfer of the work into French. La grant nef des folz du monde (February 1499/1500) develops its own specific text/image relationship. It shows how the transfer from one language into another is accompanied by a new organisation of the meaning, part of the visual dimension being conveyed by the text. It is the case for the layout of the German incunable that gives the image a central part in the construction of the double page of each chapter and is partly transferred into textual devices as the French version leans towards traditional manuscript layouts in two columns. It is also the case in the translation process when the French text offers new developments inspired by the image to improve the impact of the satire. This reveals how a deeper connection is built between text and image in the translation process and how decisive the visual dimension of the book was for the adaptor who intends to unite into his text both a translation of the woodcuts and the text itself.