A Text and Its Vicissitudes

Gerson Scholem between Confession and Creso

Abstract

This article deals with Gerson Scholem's famous letter, Bekenntnis uber unsere Sprache, which he wrote to Franz Rosssenzweig in 1929 on the occasion of his 40th birthday, and which has become cannonical in present day critical discourse. It serves as an example of the ways reading, interpreting and criticizing a translated text rather then the original affect its circulation, its critical reception and understanding and its political use and abuse. The article compares several translations of the text to prove once again how translation and the critism based on it are at times manipulative political interventions, affecting both the academic and general public discourse.