Représenter le renouveau : la modernité dans les traductions françaises de la "Vita nova" de Dante

Abstract

Representing a Renewal: Modernity in French Translations of Dante’s Vita nova

The young Dante Alighieri’s “little book” Vita nuova (or Vita nova or New Life), has achieved an unprecedented editorial success since the 19th century. In fact, five translations into French were published in less than 70 years, showing the value that this “minor” work of the medieval Florentine poet acquired in this period. As a matter of fact, Dante’s medieval lifetime assumed alternately romantic, melancholic, decadent and symbolist nuances and embodied the emerging ideal of life as a work of art. This “life” depicted in Dante’s book was defined by an adjective, sometimes given in its Latin form nova, sometimes Italianized as nuova, which easily started the contemporary and vivid debate on modernity, where youth and novelty became salient features.