To the fraternal memory of Wieland. A speech delivered at the memorial service

Abstract

In this eulogy delivered by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in honour of Christoph Martin Wieland, the renowned German poet, prose writer, and translator of works by, e.g., Horace, Euripides, Aristophanes, Cicero, and Shakespeare, the author of Faust, while recalling the life and translations of the deceased, draws conclusions regarding translation methodology. In doing so, Goethe delineates a framework for translation theory and outlines a concept of translation studies four months before Friedrich Schleiermacher did so in his well-known speech, On the Different Methods of Translating [German: Uber die verschiedenen Methoden des Ubersetzens], given on June 24, 1813, at the Royal Academy of Sciences in Berlin.