Four Contacts on Literary Translation in France, 1735-1770

Abstract

During the period of 1735-1770, the French Enlightenment thoughts, particularly in literary form, spread wildly in Europe; while English and German literature was translated into French and had their readers and audiences on the territory of France. By following several Enlightenment philosophers , also writers, translators or/and admirers of literature, such as Voltaire, Diderot and some other encyclopedists, the present thesis observed the situation of literary translation in France during the mid-18th century, collated literary translating predilections and pursued the Zeitgeist of the 18th century.