Abstract:

Intellectual and diplomatic history have to a surprising degree evolved as separate historiographies, but they can be combined through a theme crucial to both: translation. Translation enabled intercultural negotiation but could also bring about inaccuracies, misunderstandings, or consciously skewed representations. This issue argues that a multitude of actors can be understood as “translators,” that the power relations between types of actors, languages, and forms of communication was dramatically asymmetrical, and that gaps between representation and reality had real and dramatic political effects. On-the-ground translation practices thus illustrate how the international political system long rested on local developments and global encounters.

摘要：

思想史和外交史作为独立的史学发展到了令人惊讶的程度，但它们可以通过一个对两者都至关重要的主题来结合：翻译。翻译使跨文化谈判成为可能，但也可能带来不准确、误解或有意歪曲的表述。这个问题认为，众多行动者可以被理解为“翻译者”，行动者类型、语言和交流形式之间的权力关系是显着不对称的，再现与现实之间的差距具有真实而戏剧性的政治影响。因此，实地翻译实践说明了国际政治体系如何长期依赖于当地的发展和全球相遇。