Juan Ramírez Arlandi
Profesor Asociado
Departamento de Filología Inglesa, Francesa y Alemana
Facultad de Filosofía y Letras
Universidad de Málaga
Campus de Teatinos
29071 Málaga
Tlf: 952-131 802
Tlf: 952-271 997 [Particular]
Fax: 952-131 843
E-mail: jramirez@uma.es

Translating Chaucer into Spanish Verse: The Case of Jorge Elliot

An examination of the translations into Spanish of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales reflects that the number of prose versions outnumbers verse ones considerably. This unbalance is linked in most cases to the inherent difficulty of rendering such an extensive tour de force. Likewise, the lack of verse translations explains why any poetic version arouses common interest. In this paper we will examine a rare South American edition of The Miller’s Tale and The Reeve’s Tale into Spanish by Jorge Elliott. To do so, we will study in detail Elliott’s display of literary-academic scholarship as well as his personal literary preferences exhibited in the extensive prologue preceding the two tales. In a second stage and adopting a descriptive approach, we will analyse both the original text and the translated one by paying detailed attention to the rhyme, vocabulary and closeness to the original in order to validate whether Elliott’s ideas and preliminary statements are (not) observed in the translated text.