(UN)TREUE ZUM ORIGINAL? VOM SCHWEDISCHEN REITER (1936) ZUM CĂLĂREȚUL SUEDEZ (2006)

It is the year 1700. Two men are on the run. One of them is a young nobleman and deserter, the other – a nameless vagabond and petty criminal. People are after them, and time is not on their side. What is the salvation for them both? To quickly become friends and exchange identities. Fear and betrayal, tradition and modernity populate the world of the novel The Swedish Cavalier by Leo Perutz. For the translation into Romanian, the archaic style is a special kind of challenge. This article pursues the following questions: Which translation strategies should be used for conveying the very particular historical tone throughout the translation process? In other words: How can the translation do justice to two languages and two cultures, especially when the action is placed in a timewise far away universe? What gets lost in the process and how does one compensate the losses? Where is the middle ground between fidelity to the original and the liberties of translation? How much scope does the literary translator have? Where does translation end and where does adaptation begin? The author of this article and translator of the novel from German into Romanian hopes to find answers to these dilemmas.