Traduire les sciences humaines, du français en roumain, du roumain en français. A propos d’une réciprocité désormais impossible
Translating the humanities, from French into Romanian, from Romanian into French. On a reciprocity that is now impossible

Author(s): Alexandru Matei
Subject(s): Social Sciences, Language and Literature Studies, Literary Texts
Published by: Biblioteca Ştiinţifică a Universităţii de Stat Alecu Russo
Keywords: translation studies; French literary theory; idéologie et traduction; centre-periphery theory
Summary/Abstract: This article examines the translation of French humanities and social science texts into Romanian before and after 1990, focusing on the transformation of regimes of intellectual legitimacy. While French theory historically occupied a central position in the Romanian intellectual field, the post-socialist period has witnessed a gradual reconfiguration of translation practices under the combined influence of market logics, academic internationalization, and the growing hegemony of English as a global validation language. The article advances the hypothesis that, in post-1990 Romania, French theorists increasingly circulate only after having been validated through prior English translations, which function as editorial and academic filters. Drawing on a sociological approach to translation and on the centre–periphery framework, the analysis contrasts the ideologically constrained translation regime of the socialist period with the post-1990 dual regime structured by research institutions and the publishing market. Particular attention is paid to the asymmetries between literary and theoretical translation, as well as to the marginal status of translations from Romanian into French. The article concludes by discussing the epistemological consequences of English-mediated circulation for the reception of French theory in semi-peripheral academic spaces.

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