Start Date

4-20-2017 9:00 AM

End Date

4-20-2017 10:15 AM

Disciplines

Cultural History | History of Religion

Subjects

Thomas More (Saint) 1478-1535. Utopia -- Translations -- Evaluation, Thomas More (Saint) 1478-1535. Utopia -- Influence of cultural biases on

Abstract

Throughout history, the translators of Thomas More’s Utopia have altered the text to align with their religious, political, or national beliefs. This paper explores how cultural bias influenced the translations and paratexts of Utopia using examples from England, Germany, and Poland from the seventeenth century to the twentieth century. It examines the similarities and differences between the original text and the translated text by considering the social, political, and economic context of both. This paper demonstrates how Utopia is a powerful unit of analysis to study European cultures during the modern age.

Notes

1st place winner of the Karen E. Hoppes Young Historians Award for Outstanding Research and Writing.

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© Copyright the author(s)

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Persistent Identifier

http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/19789

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Apr 20th, 9:00 AM Apr 20th, 10:15 AM

Cultural Bias in the European Translations of Thomas More's Utopia

Throughout history, the translators of Thomas More’s Utopia have altered the text to align with their religious, political, or national beliefs. This paper explores how cultural bias influenced the translations and paratexts of Utopia using examples from England, Germany, and Poland from the seventeenth century to the twentieth century. It examines the similarities and differences between the original text and the translated text by considering the social, political, and economic context of both. This paper demonstrates how Utopia is a powerful unit of analysis to study European cultures during the modern age.