Textos originales, pecados originales (en la crítica de traducciones de obras de teatro)

Abstract

[EN] When evaluating and assessing the quality of translations we usually compare a source text (ST) and a target text (Tf) or target texts. In papers on the subject, there are often references to different translations of the same original but we seldom draw upon the probable existence of more than one original. If this possibility is not taken into account from the onset, the conclusions reached after a comparative study of the so called original and the translation(s) may be flawed or totally unfounded. In this paper it is argued that the question of the original should be in the origin of the activity of the critic of translations and/or the scholar, otherwise (s)he might run the risk of commiting a truly «original» sin.