Plaute et Rotrou: la traduction des comédies au XVIIe siecle, entre respect et création

Abstract

PLAUTUS AND ROTROU: TRANSLATING COMIC DRAMAS IN THE 17th CENTURY. BETWEEN RESPECT AND CREATION

When translating ancient comic dramas, the playwrights of early 17th-century France adapt the texts to contemporary bienséances both poetical and social ones. Stemming from Captivi by Plautus, Les Captifs demonstrates the necessary “imitating” skills of Rotrou: from precise translation to free adaptation, the dramatist uses the whole range of possibilities at his disposal, up to eventually changing the ancient dispositio in order to produce a good modern comedy.