Spectacular Dilemmas in Caragiale’s Works and Their Reflections on Stage and in Translation

This paper aims at paying homage to Romania’s great classic by bringing into play the spectacular dilemmas in international translations (into English and French, our languages of work) and of his prominent characters in theatre, in general (the tipsy citizen, the cuckold at carnival, a matter of betrayal). From a theatrical point of view, we will discuss some of the performances and their dilemmas, focusing on the most recent staging of D’ale carnavalului/ Carnival Doings at the National Theatre of Iași. From the perspective of Translation Studies as discipline, we are interested in the relationship between the author, his work and translation, literally and in all senses as the great translator and theorist Irina Mavrodin put it; this is because specialty literature on I.L. Caragiale spoke of the invention of another language in order to render his works appropriately in different languages for other cultures.