Translation as a repository of violence and resistance

Abstract

Research into the sociology of translation examines how translations circulate not only as texts but also as social and political objects shaped by external forces, aiming to illuminate the cultural, political, and historical implications embedded in translated content. Translations are not examined solely as linguistic products, but as outcomes shaped by networks of actors who influence every stage of their production. Drawing on Bruno Latour’s actor-network theory, which highlights the roles of intermediaries such as publishers and translators, this paper examines the wide circulation of the various versions La Nuit , a translation of Elie Wiesel’s memoir, originally written in Yiddish. Wiesel affirmed both his role in bearing witness to the trauma of the Holocaust and his commitment to transmitting a collective memory across languages. The paper explores the politics of production, publication, distribution, and translation surrounding La Nuit to trace how processes of translation can become part of an ambivalent archive for Jewish memory. Based on editorial records, the contexts of production, and a comparative textual analysis of the two English versions, the paper demonstrates that translation registers the imprints of violence and resistance that define the afterlife of Holocaust testimony.