TRANSLATION AND MEDIEVAL LITERATURE: CULTURAL TRANSFER, VERNACULARIZATION AND THE DYNAMICS OF TEXTUAL TRANSMISSION IN THE MIDDLE AGES

This paper investigates the interplay between translation practices and medieval literature, focusing on how translation in the Middle Ages functioned not merely as a linguistic exercise but as a cultural and literary phenomenon. Drawing on the concept of *translatio*—both in the sense of language‐transfer and cultural transmission—the study traces the shifting roles of Latin, vernacular languages, and the translator’s agency in shaping medieval textual traditions. It explores major issues such as the motivations for translation, the status of the vernacular, the relationship between source and target texts, and the ethical, political, and aesthetic implications of translating in a multilingual medieval Europe. By surveying key theoretical frameworks from translation studies alongside c

ase‐studies of medieval translations from Latin into the vernacular (and vice versa), the paper highlights how medieval translation practices contributed to the formation of vernacular literary canons, the negotiation of identity and authority, and the transmission of knowledge. It argues that translation in the medieval period must be understood as a dynamic process embedded in social, religious and intellectual contexts rather than simply as fidelity to an original. In conclusion, the paper reflects on how the insights from medieval translation practices challenge modern notions of equivalence, literary autonomy and translator visibility