Kristoffel Demoen "Ulysses in the Low Countries: Dutch Translations of Homer from the Renaissance to the Present."

This paper deals with the evolution of Homeric translation into Dutch, in its evolution from the first Odyssey translation (D.V. Coornhert, 1561) to the most recent one (H.J. de Roy van Zuydewijn, 1992). Rather than describing or analysing those (15 or so) translations qua translations - which would require of the audience at least a basic knowledgeof Dutch -, I will consider them as literary artifacts, and place them in their literary and cultural context. More specifically, my contribution will focus on the following items:

• The implicit and explicit translational "ars poetica," as evidenced in the translator's introductory remarks and in the translation itself.  

It seems that the "initial norm", as it has been called by Gideon Toury, tends towards either "adequacy" (priority to the source linguistic and literary norms) or "acceptability" (priority to the target norms) depending on historical circumstances, among other things. It is remarkable that prose and verse translations, for instance, emerge in chronologically
based "groups."

•   The influence from and references to the literary context, especially in regard to the verse form.

This context consists of both the contemporary original poetry, in Dutch and foreign literatures, and the translational practice in the surrounding cultures (notably the French, the English and the German ones).

• The direct influence from Homeric translations on Dutch language and literature.

 I do not intend to trace the reception of Homer's epics as such (as stories), but to indicate some tokens of the influence of the language and poetic form into which they were translated. Words and expressions coined by Homeric translators have found their way into the standard Dutch dictionaries and common usage, and some of the greatest contemporary authors (Harry Mulish and Gerrit Kouwenaar, for instance) have used typical features of the Homeric translation language (hexametrical form, Homeric similes, epitheta) to mould their own novels and verse.

•   The diversity of the reception and evaluation of the postwar translations, predicated on reader identity.

Two differentiating criteria will be discussed: (1) the criticism of classical scholars (the "professionals") vs. the appreciation of the public at large, and (2) the geographically based linguistic variation:  the assessment of features such as archaism and colloquialism depends in part on the nationality of the audience. Although the Low Countries (Flanders - the Northern part of Belgium - and the Netherlands) share one and the same Dutch language, the (17th / 19th Century) national border has produced some fundamental variations with implications for both the translator and the reader of translations.