It was just over a year ago I that I last posted to this blog. Well – I’m pleased to say that I’m back, and my original project of making the journal Internationale Situationniste available in English ‘facsimile’ is still alive.

The main reason for the pause (if an entire year can be termed ‘a pause’!) has been the vexed question of translation. Initially I was intending to use existing translations and, where there were gaps, providing my own translations as ‘guides’ to the content. But in conversing with a variety of other people the issue was raised of the validity of adding to, and of propagating, the number of less-than-accurate translations available on-line.

Reflecting on that, I decided that I would put the project on hold until I was able to ensure that my own translations were faithful to the original French texts. In my mind this had to mean finding someone to collaborate with in proofing and correcting translations who:
1) had a very good understanding of Situationist ideas, and
2) was a native French-speaker who was fluent in English.

I finally feel that the time has come when I can move the project forward, having found someone who fits the bill perfectly (the author of situationnisteblog – a site which is an excellent source of information on situationist documents).

We have collaborated on a few things already (including an ongoing project of translating Debord’s ‘Memoires’) and have built up a very good working relationship, which is turning out translations which I believe are both true to the original French, and written in very readable English.

One side-benefit of pausing for a year is that my own ability to translate French texts has improved markedly. This was confirmed in revisiting some of the translations I had drafted a year ago!

Having re-thought the timeframe of the project, it is hoped that ”Internationale Situationniste 1” will be available early in 2015. I will be attempting to make a new issue available every 2-3 months, so by the end of 2015 “Internationale Situationniste 4” should be available.