‘Reducing into English’: Translation as Alchemy in the Prologues and Epilogues of William Caxton

William Caxton, in his prologue to Malory's Morte Darthur, claims that Malory took French books and 'reduced' them into English. While Caxton clearly refers in these passages to translation as a process of reduction, it is not immediately clear what connotations the term reduce carrie...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Notes and queries 2010-09, Vol.57 (3), p.321-325
Main Authors: Howes, Laura L., McCollum, Sarah
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Caxton, William (1422-1491)
English language
French literature
Literary criticism
Translations
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Summary:William Caxton, in his prologue to Malory's Morte Darthur, claims that Malory took French books and 'reduced' them into English. While Caxton clearly refers in these passages to translation as a process of reduction, it is not immediately clear what connotations the term reduce carries. The Middle English Dictionary lists several meanings for reducen, among them (1a) to correct; (1b) to restore; (2) to recall or repeat: (3) to analyze and to interpret; and (4) to change. Here, Howes and McCollum note that the alehemical notion of radical transformation correlates closely to the process of translation as Caxton conceived of it. Caxton's belief that some of his efforts to 'reduce' texts into English resulted in texts that improved upon the originals is certainly in keeping with the notion that alchemical processes were governed by the idea of improving or making matter more refined or subtle'.
ISSN:0029-3970
1471-6941
DOI:10.1093/notesj/gjq070