Intellectual Journeys: The Translation of Ideas in Enlightenment England, France and Ireland ed. by Lise Andries et al. (review)

In recent years, eighteenth-century literary and cultural research has sought to move beyond the false boundaries of discrete national literatures, favouring transnational models that incorporate ideas of translation, cultural transfer, and world citizenship. Furthermore, we have long recognized that eighteenth-century Britain, France, and Ireland defined their national and cultural identities in relation — and in opposition — to each other. Few attempts have been made, however, to examine the trilateral relationship between these three nations in the context of contemporary research into cultural and ideological transfer. Intellectual Journeys is therefore a timely contribution to the field. It incorporates a wealth of material, drawing together methodologies relating to the history of the book and to aesthetic theories of rewriting and adaptation. This diversity proves a strength, in so far as it provides tantalizing insights into many little-known writers, artists, cultural mediators, and patterns of exchange; at times, however, the subject matter of the articles proves so disparate that the proposed ‘synthetic vision of current research’ (p. 1)risks swimming out of focus. The editors organize the collection by dividing it into four sections that represent key areas of research: ‘Translation’, ‘Art and Literature’, ‘The Circulation of Knowledge’, and ‘The Press’. Their Introduction gives a lucid account of relevant scholarship and offers an engaging portrait of the transnational development of the Republic of Letters. The editors also discuss the changing relationship between Britain and France in the course of the century, and they rightly challenge the fallacy of Ireland’s isolation from the commerce des lumières; what is missing, however, is a clear rationale for the trilateral focus of the volume. The lack of focused research questions is apparent in the varying scope of the articles: all are well written and researched, but, for this reader, the most successful draw broader conclusions about literary and cultural transfer from the necessarily narrow focus of their case studies. Anne Richardot’s article on French stereotypes of the English and adaptations of Samuel Richardson is one example. Another is Emma Barker’s article on Jean-Baptiste Greuze and William Hogarth, which provides a welcome insight into patterns of exchange in the visual arts and draws authoritative connections between aesthetic developments in France and England, national identities, and supposedly transnational moral values. Anne-Marie Mercier also makes a strong contribution with her analysis of the role played by national presses both in constructing foreign stereotypes and facilitating cultural exchange. The ‘Translations’ section offers important insights into eighteenth-century attitudes towards translation and imitation, as well as the reception of texts in different target cultures. All the articles would have benefited, however, from a thorough knowledge of the recent turn in translation studies away from emphasis on fidelity towards an appreciation of translational creativity. Simon Baudry and John Baker gesture towards this perspective but do not fully explore it. These shortcomings do not detract, however, from the importance of the research this volume represents. It is to be hoped that it will encourage future scholarship on the connections between Britain, France, and Ireland in the period.