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Aristotle's Poetics: Translation And Analysis
Here is a new translation, remarkable for its accuracy and refreshing clarity of exposition, of the first major work of literary criticism. Aristotle's doctrines are basic to every critical discussion of Greek tragedy and of other literary forms.
- GenresPhilosophy
190 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1985
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May 24, 2022
This work is not a translation or commentary by Francis Fergusson. It is a translation by Kenneth A. Telford and is accompanied by a detailed analysis with accompanying indices of proper names and terms. Telford describes his work as follows:
“In this translation of the Poetics the primary concern has been to make as literal a reproduction of Aristotle’s words as is consistent with readability. I have not tried to give the treatise any grace or facility of expression which the Greek text lacks. Nor have I tried to make the translation and interpretive reconstruction of what might be presumed to be Aristotle's intention. Interpretations and interpolations which go beyond what the text will literally support not only suffer from the fact that the translator may err in his interpretation of the text’s meaning, but they also preclude the possibility of the reader’s deciding for himself the adequacy of the interpretation. Therefore, where additional expressions were deemed necessary for the establishment of sense they have been marked off from the literal translation by brackets or relegated to footnotes.
To the fullest extent possible, consistent with intelligibility, a single Greek word has been rendered by a single English word. Many translators feel that this practice is suspect on the assumption that the Greek word shifts its meaning in different contexts. This assumption, I am convinced, is inimical to Aristotle's philosophic method. But even if it were true that Aristotle uses words analogically as Plato does, and not univocally, the shift in meaning would have to be fixed by the context and not by the word itself, and there would still have to be a reason why he uses the same Greek word. In fairness to the reader who cannot read Greek the identity of the word must be made evident so that he may judge for himself, not only the reason why the word is repeated, but even whether or not the word is analogical. Still there are passages in which because of the nature of the languages involved, this ideal cannot be adhered to, for both languages have words with a breath of function to which no word in the other language can do justice. Therefore, if more than one Greek word has been translated by a single English word they are separately listed in the index under the English word and if more than one English word has been used to translate a given Greek word the variants are listed after the Greek word in the index. The Greek word has been included in the index to allow the reader if he chooses to make use of a Greek lexicon. As a result of adhering to these principles the translation will, I think, allow a much closer reading of the Poetics in English than as heretofore been possible. Especially important in this regard is the translation of connectives without which the articulation of the argument is lost.”
“In this translation of the Poetics the primary concern has been to make as literal a reproduction of Aristotle’s words as is consistent with readability. I have not tried to give the treatise any grace or facility of expression which the Greek text lacks. Nor have I tried to make the translation and interpretive reconstruction of what might be presumed to be Aristotle's intention. Interpretations and interpolations which go beyond what the text will literally support not only suffer from the fact that the translator may err in his interpretation of the text’s meaning, but they also preclude the possibility of the reader’s deciding for himself the adequacy of the interpretation. Therefore, where additional expressions were deemed necessary for the establishment of sense they have been marked off from the literal translation by brackets or relegated to footnotes.
To the fullest extent possible, consistent with intelligibility, a single Greek word has been rendered by a single English word. Many translators feel that this practice is suspect on the assumption that the Greek word shifts its meaning in different contexts. This assumption, I am convinced, is inimical to Aristotle's philosophic method. But even if it were true that Aristotle uses words analogically as Plato does, and not univocally, the shift in meaning would have to be fixed by the context and not by the word itself, and there would still have to be a reason why he uses the same Greek word. In fairness to the reader who cannot read Greek the identity of the word must be made evident so that he may judge for himself, not only the reason why the word is repeated, but even whether or not the word is analogical. Still there are passages in which because of the nature of the languages involved, this ideal cannot be adhered to, for both languages have words with a breath of function to which no word in the other language can do justice. Therefore, if more than one Greek word has been translated by a single English word they are separately listed in the index under the English word and if more than one English word has been used to translate a given Greek word the variants are listed after the Greek word in the index. The Greek word has been included in the index to allow the reader if he chooses to make use of a Greek lexicon. As a result of adhering to these principles the translation will, I think, allow a much closer reading of the Poetics in English than as heretofore been possible. Especially important in this regard is the translation of connectives without which the articulation of the argument is lost.”
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