La aportación propia del traductor al texto científico-técnico traducido o el afán de divulgación de un saber foráneo. A propósito del paratexo en una traducción al español de H. L. Duhamel du Monceau (1700-1782).

Abstract

In the 18th century, the figure of the translator of scientific and
technical texts stands out as cultural intermediary between the primary
addressees (of the source text) and secondary addressees (of the target
text). This implies naturalization of the source text to suit the secondary
addressee and the socio-cultural context of the country. In this article, we
briefly describe some of the features of target text, essentially those parts
due to translators, the paratext. Among its components, the footnotes are
one of the most clearly mediator.
We discuss here the notes that Casimiro Gómez Ortega added to his translation
of the Physique des arbres (1758) by H. L. Duhamel du Monceau. In
these notes, the translator gives lexical information, which enables the specification
of names and the identification of references. The notes also introduce
encyclopedic information which supplements that provided directly by
the source text, as well as becoming a channel for disseminating the names
of either Spanish scientists –with a clear desire to claim the Spanish science–
or foreign to release the foreign science. Finally this article highlights the
role of the translator as a cultural mediator as well as scientist.