The Reception of Don Quixote in Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Germany and Friedrich J. Bertuch’s Pioneering Translation (1775-77) of It

Candace Beutell Gardner ABSTRACT THE RECEPTION OF DON QUIXOTE IN 17TH- AND 18TH- CENTURY GERMANY AND ITS PIONEERING TRANSLATION (1775-77) BY FRIEDRICH J. BERTUCH Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra published the first part of his inventive novel, Don Quixote de la Mancha, in 1605. Literally overnight, he went from a struggling writer, whose promising abilities and early renown had dimmed in the light cast by the major stars of Spain’s Siglo de Oro, to the most popular author in Spain. Perceived at first as a delightfully whimsical novel about the exotic adventures of an eccentric knight and his rustic squire, the work’s fame quickly spread across Europe. In my paper, I address Friedrich Justin Bertuch’s seminal 1775 translation, which was the first, relatively complete, German rendition based solely on the original Spanish text (earlier translations were modeled instead on seventeenth-century French versions). I examine various aspects of Bertuch’s work, including how he: foreignizes and/or domesticates elements like names, money, foods, measurements, exclamations and customs; and deals with the novel’s religious references, profanities, and vulgarities. Besides discussing his translation mistakes, I also comment on Bertuch’s interesting addition of numerous alliterative and rhyming elements and the significant influence he had on others’ works