Chaucer’s Pardoner in Slovenian and the significance of paratext in making meaning in translation

Abstract

The article examines the Slovenian translations of Chaucer’s collection The Canterbury Tales with a focus on the character of the Pardoner and his gender and sexual non-normativity as discussed by critics in the last century. The 1974 and 2012 Slovenian translations differ to a certain extent, but not in any significant manner with reference to the Pardoner’s portrayal. However, important differences become apparent when comparing the paratexts of the two editions, especially their explanatory notes, which are likely to lead readers to make different meanings of the texts. Because of the different paratexts in the Slovenian editions of the Tales, the two editions of the “same” target text are in effect different texts. Hence, the article argues for the importance of paratexts both in producing, translating and reading texts as well as in translation analyses.