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Politics & the Academy
- Abstract
In 1927 the French man of letters, Julien Benda, published a short book entitled La Trahison des Clercs. The phrase, trahison des clercs, henceforward passed into common discourse to denote and condemn the subordination of scholarship or speculation to some political interest or commitment. Benda’s book soon appeared in English under the title, The Treason of the Intellectuals.
Translation is notoriously a very difficult art. The translator has to convey not only the literal meaning of a text or a work but also tones and nuances. In this particular case “intellectual” is manifestly not the equivalent of “clerc.” In English, “intellectual” has a pejorative ring; it hints at a self-satisfied assumption of superiority, at the arrogant conviction that one has been vouchsafed truths hidden from the vulgar herd, truths that are particularly indispensable to the formulation and execution of public policy.
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