Abstract

In a much-cited phrase, Antoine Berman (1984, 12) stated that the constitution of a history of translation is the first task of a modern theory of translation. Verdicts of a similar nature have been presented by Bassnett (1980, 38), D’Hulst (1991, 61; 1995, 14), Lambert (1993, 22), and Delisle (1997–1998, 22). If we accept Berman’s words, we should acknowledge that researchers, both inside and outside Spain, seem to have applied themselves diligently to laying the foundations of a modern theory of Spanish translation, as works of a historical nature – be they the study of a past translation, a past translator or a past translation theorist – constitute a bibliographical corpus whose dimensions are certainly of note. A query on keywords “History” and “Spain” provides 2750 hits in BITRA (a Spanish free and online bibliography on translation and interpreting which includes more than 75,000 references, far exceeding those of other bibliographies such as, for example, John Benjamins’ Translation Studies Bibliography). Although those 2750 hits constitute quite an impressive amount of references, the specialized bibliography compiled by Francisco Lafarga on the history of translation in Spain – continuously in progress and available at http://hte.upf.edu/ in Lafarga and Pegenaute’s website on this topic) – triples that figure, providing the amazing figure of 8000 references, which bears testimony to the tremendous activity undertaken in this particular field of research. It is legitimate to consider, therefore, that the study of translation throughout the history of Spain (or, if you prefer, the study of the history of Spanish translation, or the study of the Spanish history of translation) has experienced a boom worthy of attention, even if research is still too often scattered or fragmented, as a consequence of a certain lack of cooperation among research teams, and even if enough attention has still not been paid to certain issues (see the following).