Petrarch Goes West: Translation and the Literary Canon

AbstractThis article addresses the translation of Petrarch’s work on the Western fringes of Europe demonstrating how the appropriation and transformation of the European literary canon served domestic ends in Ireland in the nineteenth century. The afterlives of Petrarch’s texts contribute to understanding how translation can introduce novel material to a target culture which in turn transforms the literature in a new social and cultural context. These translations chart the spread of Petrarch’s influence throughout Europe and illustrate how cultures absorb traditions through translations and reworkings. Although the Irish translations of Petrarch (into English) bear some similarities to the British translation tradition, the differences that are highlighted in this study illustrate how translation responds to differing cultural contexts even when dealing with the same linguistic group and time frame. This case study of translations of Petrarch’s poetry in Ireland discusses the reach and influence of the I...