I miss the discussion about the content associated with translation a bit. Of course, it's important to provide access to texts of this magnitude, but what's truly important are the ideas they contain. Unfortunately, this transport mechanism is almost completely blocked by the internet because the flood of conflicting information almost overwhelms critical consciousness. Critical consciousness is, after all, the ability to reflect on information according to one's own beliefs, which one recognizes as correct, and to adjust one's own beliefs if necessary. This is a time-consuming process that is severely undermined by the amount of (mis)information.
This was different in earlier times, so the importance of translating such works was far greater. But even then, multipliers were needed for ideas that gained publicity through political parties, so that they could "get to the people," so to speak. Lenin has a beautiful saying: "An idea becomes material force when it seizes the masses!" It is the transport of these ideas that makes change possible. The translation at that time is a prerequisite for this, but only a prerequisite. The content that led to the emergence of a movement or a catastrophic development is the real level that should be investigated. But perhaps that will come later.
It reminds me of the fact that the German Chancellery deliberately repatriated Lenin back into Russia during the darkest days of WWI. They believed that, once there, he would spread his "intellectual contagion", thereby destabilizing the Czarist regime. The strategy was similar to catapulting plague victims over castle walls to break sieges.
And that's exactly what happened! Russia withdrew from the Great War after the revolution.
I miss the discussion about the content associated with translation a bit. Of course, it's important to provide access to texts of this magnitude, but what's truly important are the ideas they contain. Unfortunately, this transport mechanism is almost completely blocked by the internet because the flood of conflicting information almost overwhelms critical consciousness. Critical consciousness is, after all, the ability to reflect on information according to one's own beliefs, which one recognizes as correct, and to adjust one's own beliefs if necessary. This is a time-consuming process that is severely undermined by the amount of (mis)information.
This was different in earlier times, so the importance of translating such works was far greater. But even then, multipliers were needed for ideas that gained publicity through political parties, so that they could "get to the people," so to speak. Lenin has a beautiful saying: "An idea becomes material force when it seizes the masses!" It is the transport of these ideas that makes change possible. The translation at that time is a prerequisite for this, but only a prerequisite. The content that led to the emergence of a movement or a catastrophic development is the real level that should be investigated. But perhaps that will come later.
That's such a great quote from Lenin!
It reminds me of the fact that the German Chancellery deliberately repatriated Lenin back into Russia during the darkest days of WWI. They believed that, once there, he would spread his "intellectual contagion", thereby destabilizing the Czarist regime. The strategy was similar to catapulting plague victims over castle walls to break sieges.
And that's exactly what happened! Russia withdrew from the Great War after the revolution.
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