Los paréntesis como instrumento de poder. Las traducciones alemanas de la prosa islandesa en torno a 1900

Abstract

Josef Calasanz Poestion was an influential author and translator from Icelandic into German. Among his translations was the first Icelandic novel, which he published several times. His translations are always accompanied by a series of paratexts, in which the translator’s presence is unusually strong. In these texts, he provides his readers with extensive knowledge of Icelandic culture and literature and positions himself as an authority on Iceland. Through frequent references to other writings, which he incorporated into annotations, introductions and other peritexts, he produced an extensive array of epitexts. He not only positioned himself as a figure of pedagogical authority vis-a-vis his readers, but also towards the Icelandic nation. His attitude toward Iceland is that of the center toward the periphery and is marked by an intra-European exoticism and orientalism.