The Use of Western Concepts in Post-Soviet Philosophy: Translation and Reception (Critical Essay‪)‬

Is "Circulation" the Same Thing as "Vzaimoobmen" (Mutual Exchange)? Let's start with a small comment on translation. The word "circulation" used in the French and English versions of our colloquium's title ("Circulation du savoir et histoire des sciences humaines"; "The Circulation of Knowledge and the History of the Human Sciences"), has as its primary meaning "motion in a circle," "going around," but it also means simply "motion," "transference." In the Russian version the word vzaimoobmen (mutual exchange) takes the place of circulation ("Vzaimoobmen znaniiami i istoriia gumanitarnykh nauk"). It presumes the presence of at least two things, between which a regular and at least partly equivalent interaction takes place. Thus the Russian version of the title prompts us to view things in terms of equivalent and interacting bodies, which is completely absent from the French and English versions.