Un-sexing Ulysses: The Romanian Translation “under” Communism

http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/1980-4237.2010n8p237The essay reviews Mircea Ivănescu’s Romanian translation of Ulysses, in particular the last chapter, “Penelope”, by placing its achievement within its historical context. After outlining the ideological climate during which the translation was being elaborated (censorship of sexual explicit references, xenophobia or xenophobic resistance to experimental foreign novels), the article examines some of the strategies Ivănescu resorted to in order to overcome the strictures imposed on his re-creation of Joyce’s work in his language