Poster describing the translation process and the translation theories used in said process

1. Translator’s
skopos
Latin ST (1305)
•Educated, Arabic-speaking
physician-author
•King Jaime II
•Greco-Arab humoral
medicine
•Regimina sanitatis genre
Spanish ST (1606)
•Jusrist translator
•General public
•Post-Bubonic Plague
•Spanish Inquisition
•Vernacularization
English TT (2014)
•Limited readership with
specialized knowledge
•Extinct genre
•Historical analysis
•Levý’s Minimax Principle
Translating Arnau de Vilanova’s Regimen sanitatis ad regem Aragonum into English
Toyin Ola
Wake Forest University
Translation as a
multilingual, multicultural
process
Project Objective
The project consisted of translating the first section, entitled Cosas que preservan, of the Spanish translation of
Regimen sanitatis ad regem Aragonum into English. Regimen sanitatis ad regem Aragonum, written in Latin in
14th-century Spain by physician Arnau de Vilanova, has been widely translated into Hebrew and several
Romance languages; however, no published English translations are known to exist. An annotated version of
Jeronimo de Mondragón’s 1606 Spanish translation (Title: El maravilloso regimiento y orden de vivir) was used
as the source text for this project due to the fact that it is readily available. Producing an English translation
presented a number of challenges, including how to maintain the integrity, or essential message, of a text from
the humoral medical tradition—further complicated by de Vilanova’s unique position as a translator, medical
educator, theologian, and private physician to kings—while making the syntax more accessible for modern
readers who have a background in the history of medieval medicine. Since the Spanish translation is necessarily
connected to the original Latin text, the non-linguistic factors influencing the production of both texts were
considered in the analysis of the text and, consequently, in making translation decisions.
Humoral Medicine:
Balance & Moderation
Galen’s Six Non-naturals
Air Quality of air; climate; location of one’s home; clothes;
perfume; also, air as a carrier of disease
Food &
Drink
Quantity, quality, and complexion of foods and
beverages consumed
Exercise &
Rest
Timing, speed, duration, quality, quantity, rhythm, and
type of physical and mental activity
Sleeping &
Waking
Optimal length and timing of sleeping and waking
cycles and its effects on digestion and well-being
Repletion &
Excretion
Important counterpart to consumption and intake for
attaining and maintaining balance; included issues of
bathing , massages, and coitus
Emotions Physical and mental effects caused by imbalance of
passions, particularly shame, joy, fear, and anxiety