“Double-Think” in Vichy France : Translating German Literature in the Lyonnais Literary Review Confluences, 1941-1943

Abstract

During the Second World War, why did editors of literary reviews in Vichy France including some associated with the French Resistance publish translations of German literature? Through an analysis of the French translations of German texts appearing in the Lyonnais journal Confluences from July 1941 to December 1943, this article shows how a skillful editor could weaponize translations by choosing not only what authors to publish but also where to begin or end an excerpt to suggest a dissident political meaning. At the same time, to continue to publish, that same editor needed to allow the possibility of alternative political readings that suggested support for the regime. This article argues that the editorial strategy of framing texts in such a way to encourage contradictory political meanings can be understood as a unique survival mechanism in an authoritarian regime in which people held deeply ambivalent political views what the historian of public opinion Pierre Laborie has characterized as “double-think.” Though each translation contained elements that suggested contradictory political meanings, from 1941 to 1943 these readings became progressively less ambiguous, less characteristic of “double-think” language, and less likely to be interpreted as supporting the Vichy regime.