Three translators from San Sebastian
Translation: Kristin Addis
Abstract
Any retrospective of translators from San Sebastian must necessarily include the three oldest that we know about: Frantzisko Xabier Lariz, Jose Bizente Etxagarai and Fernando Brunet. All three translated religious texts, though for this work they had very different training; it is not surprising, therefore, that their results show different qualities. Lariz lived in the period before the fire of 1813, Etxagarai straddled the 18th and 19th centuries, and Brunet belongs completely to the 19th century. These are three individuals who were little known or not known at all but who bear witness to a reality that is inconceivable today: the absolute necessity of using the Basque language in order to convey a message to most of the population of San Sebastian. Thus, they also provide us with a way to closely examine the speech of the San Sebastian of the 18th and 19th centuries, which has not exactly been highly praised but which turns out, in many cases, to be less incorrect than has been claimed so many times.
