ARCHAIZATION, MODERNIZATION, AND REPRESENTING THE SOURCE LANGUAGE IN INTRALINGUAL DIACHRONIC TRANSLATION

This chapter discusses the internal paradox of intralingual diachronic translations: On the one hand, time-induced linguistic change encourages conversion (modernization) of linguistic material, while on the other hand a common desire to signal antiquity and represent the original état de langue promotes the reproduction of the source wording itself with its outdated linguistic particularities (archaization). The chapter further discusses how the proportion between these main strategies are determined and the practices are used to execute them, such as literal and conventional substitutions, or standardized representations of old morphosyntactic norms. It also addresses the values and prestige assigned to this elusive balance in different settings, analysing the types of contexts and graphic or material presentation, such as layout and alphabet, which are intertwined in these translational choices and which impact the reception of the text.