Abstract: On Shakespeare’s Bawdy and its Translation into Romanian The article discusses the strategy employed by the translators involved in producing a new, enlarged edition of the Shakespeare canon in Romania(n). De-censoring and de-bowdlerizing the Bard’s bawdy, his obscene language is the thing at issue here insofar as Shakespeare the dramatist was not so much a great a poet as a self-conscious free-lancer, an entertainer who had to cater to the taste of the general public. The article discusses samples of translations from Romanian editions issued during the Communist regime and from the most recent one, launched in 2010. The close reading of the respective fragments proves that the latest translations have reshaped our perception of Shakespeare’s dramatic works by doing away with all forms of bowdlerization, or self-censorship, such as omissions, euphemism, and misinterpretation.
