Translation in Action: Global Intellectual History and Early Modern Diplomacy

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.