The Catalan novel La plaça del Diamant (1962) by Mercè Rodoreda has been translated into English twice. The first translation was done by Eda O’Shiel and published in the UK in 1967 under the title The Pigeon Girl. The second one was published in New York in 1981, and was translated by David Rosenthal with the title The Times of the Doves. Since its second edition in 1986, the North American translation replaced the British one to the point of its disappearance from the market. This article has the purpose to analyze the paratextual differences between the two translations as well as the translation/transformation of cultural and historical references present in the Catalan novel. This analysis will allow to discuss the concrete impact on the way Rodoreda’s novel my be received and perceived among English-speaking audiences in the span of fourteen years, and to argue that the reception of a foreign culture is shaped and reshaped by translations and retranslations.
