Lives of Henri Albert, Nietzschean translator

What is it about?

This is a biographical study of an influential translator, focusing on the importance of his origins in the disputed territory of Alsace, held by Germany at the time. Although he grew up in a multilingual region, Albert's loyalty was ferociously to the French, in cultural context where he felt it had to be proved. His translations from German were thus consistently anti-Germanic.

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Why is it important?

This is an example of how study of the human translator can subvert the kind of history that is based on translations as texts. Because of his origins in the disputed territory of Alsace, Albert did much to ensure that his translations did not contribute to any kind of cultural understanding between France and Germany. Rather than the United States of Europe that could have been formed in the mid 1980s, he helped steer a course bound for war.