Working Translations

Bakunin Library

From Louise Michel’s “The Imperial Bastard”

November 8, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
I’ve been reading bits and pieces of Louise Michel’s novels, as part of a larger project to get a general sense of what’s out there, and naturally with some eye to what might be worth translating in the future. One of the titles I’ve been looking at today is a massive work, Le Bâtard Impérial, co-written with Jean Winter and published in 1883. One of the major plot-lines of the novel involves Yvan, who has been an executioner in Russian prisoners, and who, through a plot twist that seems to involve mistaken identities and one of Michel’s favorite plot devices, […]
The Sex Question

Jeanne Deroin, “The Mission of Women in the Present and in the Future” (first article) (1849)

October 14, 2012
The Mission of Women in the Present and in the Future. (first article.) The February Revolution, by inscribing on its banner the words Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, has recognized in principle the right of the people and of women. But many women, and it is the majority, do not know what change the power of their influence would bring to bear on human destinies if they were called to take their proper rank in society. The majority even keep that thought at bay, as an attack on religion and morals, and as a danger to society; they have been persuaded that […]
The Sex Question

Jeanne Deroin, “Prospectus” of l’Opinion des Femmes (1848)

October 14, 2012
L’OPINION DES FEMMES Prospectus The women who understand the greatness of their mission, in the present and in the future, feel deeply that it is for them not only a right, but a duty, to take part in all the acts of social life, and to express their opinion on all the questions that relate to the organization of society. Until now, men alone have ruled the destinies of the human race. Women have been excluded from all the religious and political assemblies, where the great principles on which societies are founded are discussed; and human intelligence, split by the […]
fiction

Han Ryner, “Love Victorious” (1917)

September 30, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
Love Victorious For ten years, Pierre Vaumeil passed for mad. Previously, he had been a savant, but the death of a beloved women had, everyone in the little town maintained, destroyed his mind. Often we walked in the country. At times he spoke in a loud voice. Someone said to him: “You speak alone, M. Vaumeil?” He replied: “I am never alone.” And sometimes he told a story, perhaps symbolic, of which he listeners understood nothing. So his reputation as a madman was solidly established. The other day, he wandered according to his custom. A dozen of the curious followed […]
Contr'un

Working Translations blog

September 29, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
I have been featuring the list of “working translations” on the sidebar of this blog for quite awhile now, and it has reached the point of being a bit ungainly, taking up space that perhaps would be better used improving the navigational tools. And from time to time I find that, even despite the list, people have a hard time finding some of the translations. In order to simplify access to the most current version of all of my translations, I’ve launched another specialized blog, Working Translations, which will simply contain current versions of all of my (roughly) finished work, […]
fiction

Paschal Grousset, “The Dream of an Irreconcilable” (1869)

September 21, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
[one_third padding=”0 10px 0 0px”] [/one_third][two_third_last padding=”0 0px 0 10px”] I’ve posted a working translation of Paschal Grousset’s 1869 The Dream of an Irreconcilable, an odd little political “utopia” of sorts, which begins with the narrator falling asleep over his newspaper, as he reads the new revisions to the French constitution, explores in a novel fashion some of the details of a rather Paris Commune-like post-revolutionary future, and then ends with one last jab at the current regime. Translation is, in this case, simply the first step in making the work intelligible, since it is full to overflowing with topical […]
fiction

Han Ryner, Deo Optimo Maximo (1919)

September 11, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
Deo Optimo Maximo By Han Ryner L’HOMME parle: O Dieu, tu ne saurais m’entendre, et pourtant je te parle. Comme il m’arrive de parler à Hélène, à don Quichotte, à Faust, ou à quelque autre de mes fils. Mais à plusieurs de mes fils je parle en me glorifiant, car je leur ai donné le trésor d’immortalité. Toi à qui je n’ai su donner que la pauvre éternité, je te parle en humilité inquiète. O mon fils que j’appelais Père, je n’ai pas su te créer viable, et, voici que tu es mort. Lorsque je te créai Dieu, je ne […]
fiction

Han Ryner, “Duel upon Duel” (“The Penny-Pincher”) (1899)

September 10, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
Duel sur Duel (L’AVARE) Par Han Ryner LORSQUE, au bras de son mari, Mme Geneviève Serre se promenait sur l’Esplanade, grande, souple et lente, le visage vaguement éclairé d’un sourire, les jeunes gens de la petite ville suivaient d’un long regard cette statue qui marche. Us la trouvaient belle, malgré la sobriété de ses lignes, et leurs rêves émus lui faisaient une ardente escorte. Elle ignorait les désirs soulevés sur ses pas et, si elle eût deviné leur accompagnement, elle s’en fût irritée comme d’injures. Elle était restée la rougissante et irritable pensionnaire qui, ne comprenant jamais avec netteté, se […]
Proudhon Library

Henriette, artiste, “Letter to Proudhon” (1849)

September 3, 2012
[“En amour, la propriété c’est le viol.” One of the major voices in French feminist circles around the time of the 1848 Revolution signed her name as “Henriette, artiste,” and was probably Henriette Wild. She argued with Jenny d’Hericourt on the subject of celibacy in the pages of the Voix de Femmes, and she wrote a strange and interesting open letter to Proudhon in the pages of La Démocratie pacifique (January 5, 1849). The heart of the letter comes when Henriette hijacks Proudhon’s famous phrase, “Property is theft”—”la propriété c’est le vol” in French—and changes it to say that “in […]
poetry

Jeanne Marie, “Revelation” (1849)

August 20, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
[“Jeanne Marie” (probably Jeanne-Marie Monniot) also contributed this poem to l’Opinion des Femmes. A literal translation follows.] Révelation. Mère, comme il fait froid! la terre est toute blanche; Le mont, déjà trois fois, a roulé l’avalanche; Un instant a suffi pour chasser les beaux jours Et dépouiller le val de verdure et d amours. Les oiseaux frissonnants désertent le bocage, La plaine est comme un lac immense et sans rivage, Les pauvres voyageurs errants sur les chemins. Qu’ils sont infortunés, mère, et que je les plains, Alors qu’auprès de l’âtre où la flamme pétille, Lisant à la lueur de la […]