Un lieu de traduction : Alexandre au Paradis dans la tradition persane

This article is published in a volume that explores the legendary episode of Alexander the Great’s voyage to the Earthly Paradise across the multilingual tradition of the Alexander Romance, and it focuses on the Persian side of this tradition. Dealing in particular with three main Persian medieval romances devoted to Alexander (the section on Eskandar in Ferdowsi’s Shahname, 11th century, Nezami-e Ganjavi’s Eskandarname, end of 12th century, Amir Khosrow’s A’ine-ye Eskandari, end of 13th century), the article describes the different contours of the paradisiac/utopian place in these narratives: a luxuriant garden, a blessed city inhabited by just people, and a disappeared island, whose ancient inhabitants now live under the sea. Furthermore, through a comparative survey that also touches upon Greek, Latin, Syriac, Hebrew, Arabic, and other Persian texts, as well as upon passages from the romances in European vernaculars, a specific theme is identified, which unites the three episodes: the utopian place is characterized always by a peculiar language that requires the mediation of interpreters. The truths revealed by the paradisiac oracles are not accessible without the wisdom of language experts, translators. This represents one of the deepest intercultural messages implied by the Persian tradition of the Alexander Romance.