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Article published In:
Babel
Vol. 68:1 (2022) ► pp.114–138

The recovered past?

Deliberations on translation in the context of historical knowledge and collective memory

| Uniwersytet Warmińsko-Mazurski w Olsztynie
| Uniwersytet Gdański

The present considerations focus on the intersection of translation and memory. The starting point of these considerations is the lost letter of General Władysław Sikorski to the president of Czechoslovakia, Edvard Beneš, dated 17 February 1941, known only in its German and Czech translations. In the history of translation, there are many known examples of texts saved only through translation that have been incorporated into a cultural system, thereby preserving their continuity. However, this is not what occurred regarding the translation described here. The historical and political context of the correspondence of General Sikorski to President Beneš concerning the post-war expulsion of German populations inclines one to consider the subject of the mutual relationships between collective memory and historical knowledge. The article describes the role of translation as an act of communication in cultural processes, thus in building and transferring knowledge resources, as well as in the processes of constituting collective memory and shaping a memory narrative. The question of the role of the described text centers on – in view of the lack of the original – the issue of its authenticity. It seems that the lack of the original text has become a pretext for excluding from discourse the translation whose content is not in accordance with the official narrative. The fact that it is impossible to settle this question also inclines one to view the translation as a possible tool of manipulation. The authors of the article thus pose the question as to whether the assumption of a transnational perspective would allow the incorporation of this translation into discussions concerning the memory of the expulsions.

Keywords: translation, translator, historical knowledge, collective memory, manipulation
Article outline
  • Texts gained from translation
  • The history of a certain letter
  • Lost texts – recovered texts: The function of a translation once again
  • Translation versus memory and historical knowledge
  • Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
  • Websites
Published online: 18 February 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.00252.sap
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