Ruskin in Translation: Versions of Unto this Last in a Few Europeans Languages

Toward a Reception History of John Ruskin’s Social Thought

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Abstract

The article proposes to review the reception and transmission of John Ruskin’s social thought as expressed in Unto this Last (1862), translated and edited in different European languages. The text itself offers little room for variation, so that interpretations are voiced mainly in the editors’ introductions or afterwords, when they exist. This study finds that very few foreign versions do justice to Ruskin’s radicalism in his anti-capitalist and anti-industrial critique of modern society, his rejection of ‘progress’ and his refutation of political economy, while most take advantage of the occasion to express their own political and social views, often in blatant betrayal of Ruskin’s ideas.


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Published Dec. 15, 2020 | Language: en

Keywords Degrowth • Socialism • Political economy • Ruskin • Anti-machinism • Translation • Marx • Democratic Liberal • Social change • Radicalism • Unto this Last • Christian socialism • Marxism • Anti-capitalism • Liberal Italy • Version • Anti-industrialism • Liberalism • Interpretation • Social reform

Copyright © 2020 Jean-Yves Tizot. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-487-5/023


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