|
Abstract:
|
Joseph ben Samuel Tsarfati , one of the great Jewish poets and scholars of the Italian Renaissance , first translated the Spanish work Celestina (1499 ) by Fernando de Rojas into Hebrew in 1507 . At present , only Tsarfati’s introductory poem to his translation remains . This study seeks to answer the questions : What may have been Tsarfati’s motivation to translate Celestina into Hebrew so soon after its Spanish composition ? How might a Jewish audience in Rojas’s day have understood his work ? In response to these questions , this study will primarily concern itself with the similarities between Rojas’s and Tsarfati’s historical situations and the literary interests that they expressed in their works , interests that could have drawn Tsarfati to translate Rojas’s work . Close readings of sections of Celestina , as well as an overview of Tsarfati’s two hundred and thirty -poem corpus and close readings of several of these poems , make up the most important part of this study’s analysis .
Through this analysis , I argue that both Rojas and Tsarfati stood as transitional figures during a period of literary change , which allowed them to explore and exhibit similar themes and interests in their works . Their works thus served as a type of “go -between ,” moving their audiences from the attitudes and behaviors of one era into those of a new era . Additionally , and more importantly , both men found themselves at the nexus , or point of contact , between two cultures . Rojas – as a converso serving as a lawyer and leader of a Christian community – and Tsarfati – serving as a Jewish physician to the pope – were both in a position to feel the heavy pressures of the dominant culture and to communicate with their Jewish culture in ways that subverted that pressure and power . Both Rojas and Tsarfati were fascinated with the power of language to conceal and reveal meaning and to exert influence . As men of their time , both saw romantic love as having true , intrinsic value , but at the same time used it as a metaphor for the false hope offered by the dominant culture . |