Strachey’s translation of Freud’s writings. For example, Strachey took Freud’s das ich, “the I,” and das es, “the it,” and turned them into the scientific terms “the ego” and “the id.” He also made up words such as “parapraxis” and “cathexis.” Freud did not want to be read only by his fellow physicians, but Strachey’s attempt to make Freud more scientific also made him both more inaccessible and more apparently scientific and objective. Especially when you consider how high a percentage of people in the world know Freud, directly or indirectly, from the English translation, Strachey’s infidelity in the name of science gave the world a Freud with the same meaning but a different spirit. The movement away from form and toward language that does little more than communicate content has allowed everyone to feel they could be creative writers. It has democratized literature. Even the writing of children is now being published, while no one is yet buying their paintings or going to hear their musical compositions. (Note, however, that we do attend their performances: their plays and recitals; why, we might ask, are they rarely asked to translate, as they had been for hundreds of years? And if they did, would we read the results? Can we imagine reading other children’s translations?) Because it is so much easier to do, our transparent literary language is definitely more democratic, but it is also, as a result, anti-intellectual; to do it or read it requires little practice or thought. The mark of a good poem used to be that it asked to be read at least twice; today, most poems communicate in one reading. Translation is one of the most complete intellectual activities in the arts; to appreciate it, not to mention practice it, requires a great deal. It is an elite activity par excellence, out of step with a world where even well-educated readers happily buy books by people who are only moderately literate. The modern focus on content is not, however, just about information and democracy; it also has a spiritual aspect. Here is a passage from Goethe’s Poetry and Truth: “What matters most in all that is handed down to us, particularly in writing, is the ground, the inner being, the meaning, the direction of the work; for there lies what is original, divine, efficient, untouchable, indestructible, and neither time nor outside influences could affect this primal inner
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