Why did translations of A Sentimental Journey emphasize emotion more than comedy?

Translations of Laurence Sterne’s A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy often emphasized emotion over comedy because the novel’s reception abroad frequently cast Sterne as the "high priest of sentimentalism."1

While Sterne intended the work as a "lighthearted comedy of moral sentiments," in which the protagonist’s ego and inappropriate impulses frequently disrupt his attempts at "sentimental commerce," these nuances were often lost in translation. During the 18th century, the broader literary movement of the sentimental novel was gaining significant traction across Europe, exalting feeling above reason and raising the analysis of emotion to a fine art. Consequently, international readers and translators tended to focus on the work's capacity for tenderness and sympathy, aligning it with the prevailing European vogue for sensibility rather than its underlying comic and satirical elements.12