The Transformative Power of Translation: Ḥāfiẓ of Shiraz in the Late Ottoman Era and the Habsburg Western Balkans From Western Europe to the Western Balkans: Ḥāfiẓ through the Medium of Translation
Document Type : pajoohesh
Authors
10.22081/jap.2026.80068
Abstract
This article explores the role of translation in shaping the reception, representation, and transformation of the poetry of Ḥāfiẓ in the Western Balkans during the late Ottoman and Habsburg periods. Through an analysis of translations, paratexts, and related interpretations, the study demonstrates that the reception of Ḥāfiẓ’s poetry from earlier centuries through the nineteenth century was mediated by two major traditions. The first was the Ottoman tradition, which approached Ḥāfiẓ primarily within the framework of mystical and Sufi literature. The second was the tradition of European translations, which emphasized the poet’s romantic and hedonistic dimensions and thereby generated an entirely new mode of reading. This transformation emerged under the influence of German Romanticism and was largely transmitted through intermediary translations. Drawing upon the translation theories of Lawrence Venuti and Piotr Blumczyński, the article approaches translation not merely as the transfer of meaning but as an act of cultural recreation that functions differently within distinct historical and social contexts. Through this perspective, the study highlights the dynamic role of translation in reshaping literary reception and cultural memory across linguistic and civilizational boundaries.
Keywords
)