Translation and language power relations in heterolingual anthologies of literature

incl. ref.

Balzac's realistic technique relies mainly on the verisimilitude of a huge variety of elements (characters, descriptions, encyclopedic knowledge, etc.), among which language stands out as one of the mainstays of La Comedie humaine in general and Illusions perdues - the key novel - in particular. This paper highlights first the crucial role of Balzac's singular vocabulary (technical terms, slang words, etc.) for the success of his ambitious realist project, the variety and complexity of his language being a reflection of the variety and complexity of the new society he aims to describe. Then, through a comparative study of a group of English and Spanish translations of Illusions perdues, the paper insists on the importance of consciously maintaining Balzac's complex lexical singularities in the target languages, this being the only way to offer the reader a text faithful to the realistic intentions of his author instead of a modern "dubbed" easier-tounderstand version.