A Translator’s Tale. Hermannus Alemannus as Transcreator of Ibn Rušd’s Middle Commentary on the Poetics

Abstract

The transmission of Aristotle’s Poetics into Latin through Hermannus Alemannus’ translation of Ibn Rušd’s Middle Commentary marks a pivotal stage in the transformation of the text across cultures. Rather than a passive intermediary, Hermannus emerges as an active translator whose interventions reshaped, and at times distorted, the work to suit a Latin readership – creating what contemporary translation theory would term a process of transcreation. Taking as a starting point Roger Bacon’s often underrated claim that Hermannus did not play the principal role in his translations, this study challenges two historiographical misconceptions: first, that Hermannus was merely a docile and literal transmitter of Ibn Rušd’s text; and second, that he single-handedly accomplished his translation of the Commentary. Drawing on textual analysis and Bacon’s testimony, I argue that Hermannus was a far freer translator than is usually acknowledged, deliberately adapting his source to make it more accessible to his Latin contemporaries. To accomplish this, he relied on collaboration with cultural mediators versed in Arabic and (arguably) Hebrew. Reassessing his translation strategies and collaborative context, the paper highlights Hermannus’ creative agency in the complex process of transmitting to the Latin West a deeply reworked version of Aristotle’s Poetics.