French Literature Reviews - 2026

C.-E. Ciobâcă, Lucian Blaga and His French Translations: Stylistic Figures and Translation
Literary Theory, Linguistics and Stylistics

Bibliographic reference: Carmen-Ecaterina Ciobâcă, Lucian Blaga et ses versions en francais: figures de style et traduction, Junimea, Iași, "Efigii" collection, 2016. EAN13: 9789733718949.

This work is based on the author's doctoral dissertation, prepared under a joint supervision agreement (cotutelle) directed by Professor Marina Mureşanu from the "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University of Iași, Romania, and Professor Jean Peeters from the University of Southern Brittany in Lorient, France. In July 2012, the dissertation was awarded the distinction "très honorable avec les félicitations du jury" (highest honors with the jury's congratulations).

The book's subject matter belongs to a young discipline: translation studies, a branch of linguistics defined as a "reflection on translation," with an analysis applied to the translation of Lucian Blaga's poetry. While the first chapter establishes the theoretical foundations connecting theoretical text and translation, the second places Lucian Blaga within the broader context of European culture, and the third focuses on the translators and translations of the Romanian poet and philosopher. The subsequent chapter examines the translation of the poetic signifier in Blaga's work, and the final chapter investigates the translation of the poetic signified.

Through its chosen topic, this book contributes to contemporary discourse in translation studies from an original perspective, offering scholars—translators, linguists, and literary critics—a highly useful and suggestive approach to a complex and controversial issue: the translation of poetic discourse.

Translation studies emerged as a distinct academic discipline during the twentieth century, bridging comparative literature and linguistics to examine the theoretical and practical dimensions of rendering texts across languages. Scholars in this field investigate how cultural nuances, syntactic structures, and lexical choices shift between source and target texts. The translation of poetry presents particular challenges due to its reliance on rhythm, imagery, and condensed meaning, requiring researchers to analyze both formal elements and thematic resonance within broader literary exchanges.

Readers interested in translation studies and the reception of Romanian poetry may find this volume relevant. Based on doctoral research conducted under joint supervision in Romania and France, the study examines theoretical frameworks, cultural contexts, translators' choices, and the specific rendering of poetic signifiers and signifieds in the French versions of Lucian Blaga's literary output, reflecting on the complex issues involved in translating poetic discourse.