"Thresholds of Interpretation": Printed Paratexts and the Shifting Boundaries of Translation in Early Modern England

• In Event: Printed Translations and Their Paratexts in Early Modern England I

Abstract

In his seminal analysis of the liminary materials of printed works, Genette defined paratexts as ‘thresholds of interpretation’ aimed at drawing readers in, and controlling their interpretive experience. While recent examinations of early modern paratextual practices have confirmed their significance as instruments of intellectual, ideological, or commercial control, it has also been shown that paratexts could play a destabilizing role within the economy of the printed page. Although rarely given critical attention as such, the paratexts of printed translations offer a striking illustration of the ambivalent nature of Renaissance liminary space as a place of authorial, cultural, and interpretive negotiation. Drawing on various examples of early modern English printed translations, this paper explores the discursive shifts and interpretive ambiguities at work in their margins, highlighting at once the unstable status of translation in early modern England and its paradoxical importance to an emerging culture of print.

Author

• Marie Alice Belle, Université de Montréal