I have previously posted a short excerpt from Louise Michel’s novel, The Imperial Bastard, which featured Bakunin as a main character. Michel also adapted some elements from that novel in dramatic form as Nadine, a political tragedy set in the Polish rebellions of 1846. I’ve posted a working translation of that play now at the Working Translations blog. As with all of these new translations, there are some rough spots to smooth, but in this case it’s mostly a case of making sense of the details of the stage directions, and I think all the charm of Michel’s Bakunin comes through.
Contr'un
Louise Michel, “The Claque-Dents” (IV-VI)
THE CLAQUE-DENTS [continued] IV There are two little-known islands on the coast of Morbihan. From a distance, Hœdik has the appearance of a seahorse; some bits of land, one having the appearance of bagpipes, the others stamped in the shape of the tail, surround it. Houat is a double star; reefs, where the waves and wind roar, border Hœdik and Houat. On these islands, and on their constellations of islets, live a population of fisher-folk who only know the sea. On the horizon, eating into the coasts of Quiberon and Penmarch, is the sea; between the two harbors, a first […]
Contr'un
Letter of Henri Rochefort on Louise Michel
Letter of Henri Rochefort on Louise Michel (1) Dieppe, July 6, 1883. My Dear Citizen Argyriadès, I have only known our friend aboard the warship that transported us to New Caledonia. But I know that during the siege she had heroically fait le coup de l’eu against the Prussians, under whose guns she went to gather the wounded. It is likely that none of those who condemned her could have accomplished such exploits. I have recounted before the court of assizes her devotion for her fellow deportees, to whom she gave even her coat and her socks, keeping for herself […]
Working Translations
Liberty through Education (1898)
LA LIBERTÉ Par L’ENSEIGNEMENT (L’ÉCOLE LIBERTAIRE) [Temps Nouveaux, 1898] En matière d’éducation et d’enseignement, l’Autorité a pour effet d’accaparer l’homme chez l’enfant, au moment où son jugement est sans force, sa mémoire vide, son imagination naïve et sans défiance. Pour déprimer la, raison au détriment de la liberté, elle s’est emparée de l’intelligence et de la volonté pour les enchaîner, insensiblement et par une longue habitude, de préjugés, de scrupules et d’entraves sans nombre. L’État, après l’Église, comprenant fort bien que l’homme se ressent toute sa vie de l’influence subie durant son passage à l’école, s’est arrogé le droit d’étendre […]