Traduzione come adattamento. Le traduzioni e riscritture delle Aventures de Télémaque in Portogallo da romanzo di formazione politica a manuale glottodidattico

The paper examines the history of the Portuguese translations of François Fénelon’s Les Aventures de Télémaque in the 18th and 19th centuries. These translations are considered a case of proactive adaptation of the original nature and content of this novel to different contexts and different uses. An interesting feature of these adaptations is that they highlight, and at the same time revive and update, single meanings and aims that were enclosed in the source text. Whereas 18th-century translations stress the pedagogic and political nature of the work, 19th-century editions appear since their editorial layout as “devices” for language-learning. The paper reveals that the link between these uses is made by the choice of two of the 18th century translators, who decide to translate Fénelon’s novel because they intended to emulate the literary style of this masterpiece of French literature, thus creating a new Portuguese epic language.