Das epische Prateritum und seine Ubertragungsmoglichkeiten ins Rumanische. Versuch einer Ubersetzungskritik

Abstract

The paper analyzes the importance of certain stylistic aspects while translating the German tense “episches Präteritum” into Romanian. The translation criticism is carried out on Süskind’s novel “The Perfume”. The paper focuses on the difficulties on rendering the same stylistic values of the epic narration into Romanian. The difficulties arise, because in German there is only one single tense for narration, the so called epic past tense, while in Romanian the translator has three choices – the tenses “perfect compus”, “perfect simplu” and “imperfect”. Which choice is to be considered adequate is to be discussed on the basis of several theoretical points of view appropriate to the field of translation criticism.