@article{article_610699, title={1796: When the Terror Ballad Came to Britain}, journal={Gaziantep Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi}, volume={18}, pages={16–36}, year={2019}, DOI={10.21547/jss.610699}, author={Rix, Robert William}, keywords={Gottfried August Bürger,balad,çeviri,Romantisizm,çoğuldizge kuramı}, abstract={<div style="text-align:justify;"> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;vertical-align:baseline;"> <span lang="en-us" style="font-size:10pt;font-family:’Times New Roman’, serif;" xml:lang="en-us">In 1796,
numerous English translations of the German writer Gottfried
August Bürger’s poem “Lenore” were published. Critics have long seen this
intense publication activity (within just one calendar year) as both remarkable
and difficult to explain. The article examines the factors that made the poem
such an immediate sensation. By analyzing prefaces and reviews related to the
English translations of “Lenore,” it becomes clear that the poem offered
something new: it was a <i>Kunstballade </i> that drew on vernacular poetic
forms and thereby challenged existing verse genres. In order to understand the
popularity of the ballad, the article revisits aspects of the theorist Itamar
Even-Zohar’s <i>polysystem theory </i>, which provides a useful departure for a
discussion of translations as the conduits through which a domestic repertoire
of literary genres can be expanded and renewed. In this connection, it is
important to look at how the various translations were aimed at different
segments of the book market. However, as an innovation, Bürger’s poem was not
universally welcomed. Conservative detractors and, remarkably, some of the
translators themselves baulked at introducing Bürger’s superstitious ballad to
an English reading public insofar as “Lenore” could be seen to contest British
rationality and offend religious sensibilities. </span> <span lang="en-us" style="font-size:10pt;font-family:’Times New Roman’, serif;" xml:lang="en-us"> </span> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> </div>}, publisher={Gaziantep Üniversitesi}