Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2018
This article uses the multifaceted meaning of the word translation as an analytic key to understand and analyze social and epistemic change in early modern France. Translation is here taken to mean not simply the rendering of one language into another, but also a physical displacement from one location to another, and the movement of knowledge and expertise from one discipline (and social status) to another. The manifold ideas and practices associated with translation are used to chart the voyage of Jean Parmentier, a humanist, poet, and ship captain from Dieppe, as he guided his ship and crew to Sumatra in 1529.
I would like to thank the anonymous readers at Renaissance Quarterly, Tim Hampton, Hélène Mialet, and the 2012 fellows of the Townsend Center for the Humanities at UC Berkeley for their many thoughtful suggestions, comments, and criticisms. All French translations are by the author, except where noted.