Between 1880 and 1938, Freud translated various philosophical, political, psychiatric, and popular writings into German, including texts written by John Stuart and Harriet Taylor Mill, Jean Martin Charcot, and Marie Bonaparte. As products of different incentives and attitudes to translating, these ancillary writings are testimonies of international transfer of knowledge, networking, and personal exchange. Furthermore, Freud’s translations evince his critical reception of the translated authors and their works, for this intellectual dialogue shaped his own academic terminology. This project contributes to current debates on the effects of translation and multilingualism on Freud’s work. His neglected translations form part of the cultures of translation that shaped early twentieth-century cultural studies.

Esther Kilchmann is a scholar of literary and cultural studies. She works on the theory and history of multilingualism in literature, transculturalism, and experimental writing. She taught at the University of Hamburg and worked for the Center of Literary and Cultural Studies in Berlin (ZfL). She obtained her PH.D. in German literature at the University of Zurich.