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Feminism in Lyon before 1848: Eugénie Niboyet and Flora Tristan

March 19, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur

FEMINISM IN LYON BEFORE 1848 I. —Feminist Tendencies before 1834. Mme Niboyet. When Fourier and, after him, the Saint-Simonians denounced the inequality of the sexes as a denial of justice, they revived a long-interrupted tradition. After Condorcet, the ardent forerunner of feminism, who was concerned with the role of woman? The Revolution, accustomed to find in her an enemy more often than an ally, had neglected to take her part after the assassination of Marat by Charlotte Corday. Napoleon was not the man to make her a part of his plans. She herself seemed disinterested in her own cause. Enfantin […]

Proudhon’s “Toast to the Revolution” (revised translation)

March 19, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur

Proudhon’s “Toast to the Revolution” was the first major translation I posted on the blog, back in July of 2007. Little did I know at the time how much translating I would end up doing, and I certainly didn’t dream that it would become my primary activity as a radical scholar. But here we are. I’ve winced more than once as I’ve been revising these early translations, but I was pleased to find that there wasn’t much in this one to make me cringe. I’ve clarified a couple of key sections, which were hard to make sense of, either grammatically […]

To the Socialist Democrats of the Department of the Seine, 1850

March 16, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur

TO THE SOCIALIST DEMOCRATS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE SEINE. Some men and women whose devotion to the Republic has cast them into exile, some comrades in belief and in misfortune, lack everything, and we are sad that we cannot do anything to alleviate their sufferings. So far, the cantonal allowances, and some individual assistance have been enough to make their position tolerable; today, our feeble resources are exhausted. The refugees provided for by the State are barracked and subjected to a regime which treats them like prisoners of war. The little food they are given is detestable; no […]

Alfred Darimon, “Notice on the Journals of Proudhon” (1884)

March 16, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur

Related links: A New Proudhon Library [project page] Le Représentant du Peuple: specimen issues Le Représentant du Peuple: misc. writings These journals are now available online at Gallica. From Alfred Darimon, A Travers une Révolution (1884) NOTICE ON THE JOURNALS OF PROUDHON I. — le Représentant du Peuple. The true founder of the Représentant du Peuple was Mr. Jules Viard, a humorous writer who died very young. Mr. Jules Viard published under this title, in 1847, a financial prospectus and two sample issues, one dated October 4, 1847, and the second dated November 13, 1847. It was also M. Jules […]

Coeurderoy and Vauthier, “The Barrier of the Combat” (1852)

March 11, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur

I’ve posted a working translation of The Barrier of the Combat, by Ernest Coeurderoy and Octave Vauthier. For some explanation of the title, see my earlier post on La Barrière du Combat. The essay, which is aimed at squabbling socialist exiles, ends with Coeurderoy’s famous argument that liberty in Europe could only be made possible if a Cossack invasion first wiped away civilization. Of the early anarchists, Coeurderoy was probably the most accomplished and literary writer, which posed a slightly different set of translation problems than I faced with Bellegarrigue and Déjacque. I’ve learned a number of things about the […]

Coeurderoy and Vauthier, “The Barrier of the Combat” (1852)

March 10, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur

[one_third padding=”0 10px 0 0px”] [/one_third][two_third_last padding=”0 0px 0 10px”] The Barrier of the Combat, or the last great assault which has just been engaged between the citizens Mazzini, Ledru-Rollin, Louis Blanc, Étienne Cabet, Pierre Leroux, Martin Nadaud, Malarmet, A. Bianchi (de Lille) and other Hercules of the north. Ernest Cœurderoy and Octave Vauthier Bruxelles, 1852 This was written long ago. The slight impact made by the manifestos of Mazzini, Ledru, L. Blanc and their companions had at first discouraged us from publishing it. After the meeting of the outcasts of the Seine, who had taken refuge in […]

Transcribing Liberty

March 5, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur

There is a new initiative to systematically transcribe the contents of Benjamin R. Tucker’s Liberty, a project near and dear to my heart, but one I’ve never found enough support for to pursue seriously and consistently. Put Transcribing Liberty in your blogroll and show some love for this sort of difficult, and all too frequently thankless, sort of work.

Bellegarrigue’s “To the Point! To Action!!” and “Le Commanditaire”

March 3, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur

I’ve posted a revised translation of Anselme Bellegarrigue’s “To the Point! To Action!!” (“Au Fait! Au Fait!!”) It is considerably more finished than the first version, though I reserve the right to come back and tinker with it some more one of these days. I find Bellegarrigue’s prose challenging, but I’ve grown rather fond of his style. He has a lot of the youthful brashness of Déjacque and Coeurderoy, but also a no-nonsense, bottom-line focus which means he often delivers his largely mutualist message in the voice of a jaded trader, and the result is often as entertaining as it […]

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Working Translation revisions

February 28, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur

As I’ve mentioned, I’m in the midst of a thorough revision of all my working translations. I’ll be making announcements of the major milestones, but I’ve also been marking the links in the side column here in bold as I complete the work. I’ve signed onto a couple of big, exciting translation projects (about which more soon) and turned a couple of important corners in my own work, and want to square away all of this exploratory material, as I start to tackle material in a considerably more systematic manner. And the revised translations will make up the heart of […]

The Feuding Brothers (1850)

February 22, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur

I ran across this one-act parody of French socialism in the January 5, 1850 issue of La Mode, a popular magazine, and was nearly finished with this (rough) translation before I realized that most of the dialogue was lifted straight from the debates between Proudhon, Blanc and Leroux. Indeed, most of the details may have come from a single source, a pamphlet, Actes de la Révolution: Résistance, which reprinted Proudhon’s essays “What is Government? What is God?” and “Resistance to the Revolution.” The second installment of the latter essay is, of course, the source of two partial translations, by William […]