Equation with three unknowns: betrayal, treachery, fidelity. On the translation of the tale Le Blanc et le Noir (Black and White) by Voltaire

In this article, we aim to observe how political correctness influences the interlinguistic transfer of an 18th-century literary text, Le Blanc et le Noir (Black and White). To this end, we examine the Romanian translation in relation to the three concepts mentioned in the title – fidelity, betrayal, and treachery – and the expectations of contemporary readers regarding translation and reader sensitivity. We conclude by discussing the evocative effects that a constraint on translational expression is prone to generate and the alteration of the original, the author’s intent, and the intention of the source text.