Wies Moes As Cultural Mediator in Times of War Elke Brems
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Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire ‘The Same Blood Works in Us’. Wies Moes as Cultural Mediator in Times of War Elke Brems Citer ce document / Cite this document : Brems Elke. ‘The Same Blood Works in Us’. Wies Moes as Cultural Mediator in Times of War. In: Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire, tome 92, fasc. 4, 2014. Histoire médiévale, moderne et contemporaine Middeleeuwse, moderne en hedendaagse geschiedenis. pp. 1379-1393; doi : https://doi.org/10.3406/rbph.2014.8617 https://www.persee.fr/doc/rbph_0035-0818_2014_num_92_4_8617 Fichier pdf généré le 18/04/2018 Abstract The Same Blood Works in Us. Wies Moens as a Cultural Mediator in Times of War During the Second World War, the relations between the peoples and cultures involved were redefined, not only politically but also culturally. Cultural mediators between Flanders and Germany sought to clarify and strengthen the relationship between both cultures, aided by the German cultural policy that was explicitly anti-French. Wies Moens was a central figure in this process of cultural mediation as a writer, translator and public intellectual. His translation of the Finnish epic Kalevala fed the idea of kinship between the Germanic cultures. Also with his translation of Hölderlin he took a cultural-political position – one which exposed the scope of his network to boot. His translation of Flemish war poetry finally shows Moens’ hope that the planned cultural transfer would not be exclusively unidirectional. Both his rhetoric and his actions during the Second World War show Wies Moens as a constant mediator and bridge builder between Flanders and Germany. Eenzelfde bloed werkt in ons. Wies Moens als cultureel bemiddelaar in oorlogstijd Tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog werden de verhoudingen tussen de betrokken volkeren en culturen scherpgesteld, niet enkel op politiek, maar ook op cultureel gebied. Culturele bemiddelaars tussen Vlaanderen en Duitsland trachtten de verwantschap tussen beide culturen te expliciteren en te versterken, daarbij geholpen door de Duitse cultuurpolitiek, die expliciet anti- Frans was. Wies Moens was een centrale figuur in die culturele bemiddeling ; als schrijver, vertaler en publieke intellectueel. In zijn invloedrijke essays (her) definieerde hij de Vlaams-Duitse verhoudingen. Met zijn vertaling van het Finse epos Kalevala voedde hij het idee van verwantschap tussen de Germaanse culturen. Ook zijn vertaling van Hölderlin was een cultuurpolitieke stellingname, die bovendien de reikwijdte van Moens’ netwerk over het voetlicht brengt. Zijn vertaling van de Vlaamse strijddichten ten slotte toont Moens’ hoop dat de beoogde culturele transfer geen eenrichtingsverkeer zou zijn. In zijn retoriek en door zijn daden was Wies Moens tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog voortdurend bezig met te bemiddelen tussen Vlaanderen en Duitsland. Zo verstevigde hij meteen ook zijn eigen positie als brugfiguur. The Same Blood Works in Us. Wies Moens as a Cultural Mediator in Times of War Elke BRems KU Leuven Introduction The Second World War and the years leading up to it provide an interesting setting for the study of discourse on identity, nationalism and xenophobia. During wartime, national identities are often the object of fierce struggle and confrontation: a nation’s attitude towards neighbouring countries and international relations in general becomes the stake of a sharp ideological debate. Studying cultural mediation can provide insight into extreme standpoints on nationalism and internationalization, and also into the process of identity building. In this paper, I will discuss the role of one specific cultural agent, mediating between Flanders and Germany during the Second World War: Wies Moens. I will mainly focus on his work as a translator, although it will become clear he combined that with other forms of cultural mediation. Translating in times of war During World War ii translation was a crucial instrument in the cultural- political struggle. Many adhered to the Humboldtian idea that “each language carries a world peculiarly its own” (1). Language and ethnicity were thought of as being one and indivisible. Language issues therefore always had a political dimension. National Socialism particularly encouraged the belief in the bio- racial, genetic character of language (2). The Germans ran an essentialist language campaign, which was also reflected in the translation policy. In such an ideological context, texts are often read in an ethnographic way, namely as representatives of a specific culture (3). Translations from ‘Nordic’ and ‘Germanic’ languages were encouraged in order to overcome ‘Latin’ and (1) Emily apTeR, The Translation Zone. A New Comparative Literature, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2006, p. 111. (2) E. apTeR, The Translation Zone, op. cit., p. 34. (3) Gisèle sapiRo, “Normes de traduction et contraintes sociales”, in Anthony pym, Miriam shlesingeR & Daniel simeoni, eds., Beyond Descriptive Translation Studies. Investigations in Homage to Gideon Toury, Amsterdam-Philadelphia, John Benjamins, 2008, p. 200-208. Revue Belge de Philologie et d’Histoire / Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Filologie en Geschiedenis, 92, 2014, p. 1379–1393 1380 E. BREMS especially French influences. The latter were historically very widespread in Belgium (neighbouring France as well as Germany), but during the Second World War they were regarded as morally depraved and culturally alien. During the Second World War Belgium was ruled by the German army, the Militärverwaltung. This organisation issued a missive that stated that cultural relations between Belgium and Germany had to be consolidated by suppressing French influences. In August 1940, the Tätigkeitsberichten – the occupier’s newsletter – reported: “Das kulturelle Leben in Belgien wird nach dem Kriege in erster Linie von Deutschland aus beeinflusst werden müssen.” According to Hanns Johst, the president of the Reichsschrifttumskammer in Berlin, “(d)ie Beschaffung deutscher Bücher (is) vordringlich. Die Volksbüchereien sind in den letzeten Jahren durch deutschfeindliche und Emigranten-Literatur versecht worden” (4). The translation policy of the German Propaganda Abteilung (Propaganda Division) was strict. In September 1941 a list of unwanted literary works was published, “Against Instigation and Chaos”, containing about 1456 books (5). The preface to this list contended that intellectual life in Belgium was too strongly influenced by French and that this pernicious cultural influence had to be stopped in favour of a German orientation. According to Michel Fincoeur, the Germans founded new publishing houses to that end (6). Translations from German or from Northern European languages were licensed more quickly and a translation project was automatically granted a licence if the text had already been translated into German earlier (7). This implies that translations were considered as important (and dangerous) vehicles in the transfer of ideas and ideologies. However, translation was also regarded as a way to fill a gap in national cultures, namely by domesticating cultural products that were not considered harmful but crucial to the process of identity building. In this article, three cases of such translations will be discussed. All three texts were translated by the Flemish-nationalist poet Wies Moens. A recent evolution in the field of Translation Studies is marked by an increased interest in the agency involved in the process of cultural transfer. Reine Meylaerts, among others, has shifted the focus from translations to translators, by looking at them as enactors of structures and norms that we tend to study as if they were independent and external (8). In other words, she observes the translator in the light of his intercultural habitus: “Under the influence of social position and individual (4) Ernst BRuinsma, Hans RendeRs, Lisa KuiTeRT & Brigitte slangen, eds., Inktpatronen: de Tweede Wereldoorlog en het boekbedrijf in Nederland en Vlaanderen, Amsterdam, De Bezige Bij, 2006, p. 27. (5) Michel B. FincoeuR, “De uitgeverswereld tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog”, in Dirk de geesT, Paul aRon & Dirk maRTin, eds., Hun kleine oorlog, Leuven, Peeters & Brussels, soma, 1998. (6) M.B. FincoeuR, “De uitgeverswereld”, op. cit., p. 53. (7) Elke BRems, “A Case of ‘Cultural Castration’? Paul de Man’s Translation of De Soldaat Johan by Filip de Pillecyn”, in Target, vol. 22, 2010, 2, p. 212-236. (8) Reine meylaeRTs, “Translators and (Their) Norms. Towards a Sociological Construction of the Individual”, in Anthony pym, Miriam shlesingeR & Daniel simeoni, eds., Beyond Descriptive Translation Studies, op. cit., Amsterdam and Philadelphia, John Benjamins, 2008, p. 91-102. THE SAME BLOOD WORKS IN US 1381 and collective past, every cultural actor thus develops (and continues to develop) a social identity: a certain representation of the world and of the person’s position therein” (9). Or as Theo Hermans phrases it: “Intercultural traffic, then, of whatever kind, takes place in a given social context, a context of complex structures, including power structures. It involves agents who are both conditioned by these power structures or at least entangled in them, and who exploit or attempt to exploit them to serve their own ends and interests” (10). Thus, as a translator, Moens was conditioned by his environment, i.e. the very active (and repressive) power structures during the Second World War, but at the same time he also attempted to exploit these structures for his own goals. By selecting precisely these literary works for