Die Pseudotranslation als Mittel zur Steuerung des Leseverhaltens

Whereas the pseudotranslation almost represented a sort of literary convention in the 18th and 19th century, its importance has waned in the 20^th century. Nevertheless, it seems worth while studying these phenomenon, not just as a part of the literary history, but also concerning the question, how readers – and their expectations – can be influenced by such “markers” as “translated from the…”. They do not just offer insight into what was considered a translation at a given point of time in a given translation culture and how different (literary) cultures relate(d) to each other, but they also show us, how readers – and their perception of the text – can be influenced. In the following article, several examples of historical as well as modern pseudotranslations and their contexts are analyzed.