Historical Translation and Translation History: The English Asiento (1713-1750)

Abstract

Historical translation can be seen as a particular theory, or as specialized translation, or as historical phenomenon (translation history). Nevertheless, these three notions are not conceived separately, but in a continuous interchange.Translation played a fundamental role in the Asiento Contract. Thanks to translation, relations between the Spanish and British Crown were established. English, French, Latin and Spanish were the languages in use, yet encoded language was of great use to protect the content of secret documents. In this presentation I will focus on answering the following questions: 1. How to translate historical texts and why is a particular historical translation theory needed? 2. What is the Asiento Contract between the Spanish and British Crowns and how diplomatic relations between both nations were established due to the said Contract? 3. What was the role of translation during the Asiento Contract, who was in charge of this task and which strategies were followed when translating? 4. Why is it important to translate historical texts and, therefore, what is the impact of it in a global society?