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Between Fantasy and Philosophy: Saʿdi, Translator of Voltaire’s Zadig

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Margaux Whiskin
Margaux Whiskin*
Affiliation:
School of Modern Languages and Cultures, University of Warwick, UK
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Abstract

Zadig ou la Destinée opens on a preface supposedly written by Sadi (sic), who seems to suggest he is the translator of the story which is to follow. The article will investigate the role played by Voltaire’s reference to Saʿdi in Zadig as an Oriental prop for the narrative’s exotic setting, but also, more importantly, as participating in its philosophical content. Travelers’ accounts had brought growing interest in Persia, and Saʿdi would not have been unfamiliar to an educated public; the Orient more generally became an experimental space for Enlightenment thought. Playing on the notion of the translator as cultural bridge, the article examines the uses Voltaire makes of Saʿdi in Zadig and whether these correlate to the eighteenth-century French reader’s perceptions of the Iranian poet.

Keywords

VoltaireSaʿdiPersiaEnlightenmentZadig
Type
Articles
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 52 , Issue 5-6: Special Section: Saʿdi at Large , November 2019 , pp. 717 - 737
Copyright
Copyright © Association For Iranian Studies, Inc 2019

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