Teodor Llorente, traductor i creador

Abstract

This paper aims to provide an overview of the Valencian poet Teodor Llorente, one of the most important translators of 19th century Spain. He was a poet by choice and translated the work of the most remarkable Romantic authors: Hugo, Lamartine, Goethe, Heine and Lord Byron. He became famous in 1882 with his versified version of Faust, the first to be published in Spain. The reviews were excellent and he earned the support of his contemporaries, writers like Menéndez Pelayo, Clarín or Pardo Bazán. He also cultivated the anthology in translation, and saw this genre as the perfect way to express his aesthetic affinities. His translated poems had an important impact on the Spanish literary polysystem and were reclaimed by many editors and translators at the beginning of the 20th century. Even though the name of Llorente seems to have been forgotten, the translators’ visibility must be taken into account, as we look into the life, motivations and goals of these secret poets.