The French Revolution and the expansionist foreign policy adopted by Napoleon Bonaparte led to a considerable increase in translation activities in the late 18th and the early 19th century. One obstacle to the spread of the revolutionary ideas in the neighbouring states under monarchic rule consisted in the communication problem caused by the French occupation and the introduction of the French administration in the occupied territories that followed. Printing public announcements dans les deux langues was one of the easiest ways to solve this problem.
Although historians have studied the period extensively, research in this field has, with few exceptions, rarely centred around translations so far. Three projects supervised by Michael Schreiber and funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft aim to close this research gap. The projects focus on the translation policies in Belgium, Italy and the ‘Republic of Mainz’ as well as in the Department Mont-Tonnerre/Donnersberg in present-day Rhineland-Palatinate.
On this website you will find a short description of the three projects and a detailed bibliography of the research literature produced in the course of the projects, which will be further expanded.
For more information, please contact Michael Schreiber.