From: glevy@PRATT.EDU
Date: Mon Aug 14 2006 - 12:34:09 EDT
Hi David Y, Paul B, and Jurriaan: Just a quick note. I think there are two issues here, which at times, might have been conflated: 1) precision Translations, of course, strive for precision. The issue arises in this context, I think, because there is a word in German which can't be rendered easily into English, i.e. there is no comparable single word which conveys the same meaning as the German original. Jurriaan has made the case that "valorization" is the best rendering into English from the original and has advanced a number of conceptual reasons for why this term is desirable. 2) everday language Marx, it seems to me, despite his concern for precision (as Michael H emphasized in the Spring), also wanted _Capital_ to be readable. I.e. it had to be written in a form that would allow it to be read by the socialists and revolutionary workers of his day in order to have the utmost political impact. This, perhaps, relates to the concern of David Y and Paul B. "Valorization" is, after all, hardly a word on the tips of the tongues of English speakers. Of course, Marx was schooled in philosophy but can anyone on the list think of words in the original German version of _Das Kapital_ which would not have been recognized by German workers? These two concerns are not always easy to reconcile. In solidarity, Jerry Mattapoisett
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