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European Translators in the Eighteenth Century

  

This project is devoted to constructing a crowd-sourced database of European translators in the long Eighteenth Century based on input from the research community. Its objective is to further understanding of a crucial moment in the history of European culture through a study of translation. The Eighteenth Century saw both the development of national cultures and identities helped by the rise of vernacular languages as vehicles of learned discussion, and a transnational movement generally known as the ‘Enlightenment’. The international exchanges in the European Republic of Letters were made possible by translation, which continues to be a vital tool today for the existence of both a common European culture and diverse national cultures. Its importance is realised by those who wish to defend their own language and culture against the dominance of a simplified form of English in many scientific fields. Study of the eighteenth-century practice of translation and its role in bringing languages and cultures into contact therefore has lessons for today’s Europe.
However, research is hampered by lack of information about translators and the conditions in which they worked. Thus a database pooling the scattered existing information is a first step to undertaking this study. It will provide information on:

  •  the individual translators, their education, careers, publications and personal circumstances
  • the number of translations linked to particular historical events and developments and the history of their publication
  • centres of translation
  • the European circulation of particular works


It will therefore facilitate research on the circulation of knowledge and ideas and the construction of European and national identities, and will throw light on the politics of language interaction.

In collaboration with ISPF (CNR), the project runs form January 2017 until December 2018.

 

 

Project Leader

 

Thomson-100-120

Ann Thomson (European University Institute)

Professor of European Intellectual History
 

 

 Project Directors

 

Castagnino100-130

Alessia Castagnino (European University Institute)

Marie Curie Fellow
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Page last updated on 11 April 2019

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