{"id":340,"date":"2019-01-28T11:26:33","date_gmt":"2019-01-28T11:26:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/?p=340"},"modified":"2024-08-31T17:05:53","modified_gmt":"2024-08-31T16:05:53","slug":"translating-darwin-translating-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/2019\/01\/28\/translating-darwin-translating-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Translating Darwin, Translating History"},"content":{"rendered":"

The history of science and of scientific knowledge offers lessons in many ways of thinking about the world we live in, past and present, scientific and beyond. Katalin Straner, Lecturer in Modern European History at Southampton, is writing a book on the translation and reception of Darwinism and evolutionary theory in nineteenth-century Hungary and the Habsburg Empire. In July and August 2018, Katalin was a Short-Term Resident Research Fellow at the Library American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia. In this blog post she discusses her research and the questions that underpin it.<\/p>\n

The American Philosophical Society is one of the largest repositories of the history of science. Its Darwin collections are similarly impressive: the Library hosts correspondence by Charles Darwin, Charles Lyell, and other contemporaries, as well as works by and on Darwin in many languages, including several spoken in the Habsburg Empire (German, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, and others). Philadelphia, with its fascinating history and institutions of science, is also an ideal place for historians of science. The history of science is more than just a narrow study of the history of the natural sciences. It is much more productive to approach the history of science as a history of knowledge, studying the ways knowledge has transformed the world.<\/p>\n

In my research I ask a series of questions about how knowledge is produced, communicated, and transformed by people (who do not have to be \u2018professional\u2019 scientists), ideas (such as Darwinism), and material objects such as books, newspapers, and caricatures. I centre these questions around the science of Charles Darwin in nineteenth-century Europe. My research into why and how Darwin\u2019s work was translated into various languages led me to explore how evolutionary knowledge is transformed through entering a variety of cultural, intellectual, social, and political spaces, and how in turn this knowledge has been used to shape those spaces.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Evolution according to Darwin\u2019s theory. Postcard from author’s own collection.<\/em><\/p>\n

The transformations can sometimes be rather unexpected. For example, on this Hungarian postcard, produced around 1900, a spur transforms into a Hungarian soldier (hussar), presumably through a relatively common misunderstanding about how evolution actually works (see also: monkeys). This is among the many examples of translation practices and cultural relocation that I explore in my research into how biological concepts cross over<\/a> not only into other intellectual disciplines, but also into public discussions and public space.<\/p>\n

Histories of the translation, reception, and transformation of fundamental works of science lead to wider questions about how knowledge is made. My research traces how and why fundamental (and bestselling) works of nineteenth-century natural history and science such as Robert Chambers\u2019 Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation<\/em> or Charles Darwin\u2019s Origin of Species and Descent of Man<\/em> were published in Hungarian<\/a>. More importantly, though, this also reflects on why knowledge matters: thanks to the work of translators, scholars, journalists, public intellectuals, and many others involved in bringing Darwin\u2019s and his contemporaries\u2019 work to Central Europe, the languages of evolution, \u2018development\u2019 and \u2018progress\u2019 became not only part of scientific, but also public discourse.<\/p>\n

Katalin Straner<\/p>\n

https:\/\/hcommons.org\/members\/kstraner\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The history of science and of scientific knowledge offers lessons in many ways of thinking about the world we live in, past and present, scientific and beyond. Katalin Straner, Lecturer in Modern European History at Southampton, is writing a book on the translation and reception of Darwinism and evolutionary theory in nineteenth-century Hungary and the Habsburg Empire. In July and …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3143,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1,8],"tags":[61,59,58,56,60,57,62],"class_list":["post-340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-notes-from-the-archive","category-research","tag-central-europe","tag-charles-darwin","tag-evolution","tag-history-of-science","tag-hungary","tag-knowledge","tag-nineteenth-century","column","threecol"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9DnLX-5u","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":64,"url":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/2018\/01\/31\/staff-qa-alan-ross\/","url_meta":{"origin":340,"position":0},"title":"Staff Q&A: Alan Ross","author":"George Gilbert","date":"31st January 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Today, we have another interview, this time with Dr Alan Ross. History at Southampton: How would you describe yourself as a historian? Alan Ross: I tend to think of myself as a traditional Classicist: I use detailed linguistic and textual interrogation of ancient authors to answer literary, philosophical, and historical\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Meet the Department"","block_context":{"text":"Meet the Department","link":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/category\/meet-the-department\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":290,"url":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/2018\/10\/23\/world-war-one-student-protests-in-china-and-the-foundation-of-the-chinese-communist-party\/","url_meta":{"origin":340,"position":1},"title":"World War One, Student Protests in China and the Foundation of the Chinese Communist Party","author":"Eve Colpus","date":"23rd October 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Within the centenary commemorations of the First World War, one history-making aspect that is often overlooked is what the war had to do with the foundation by young Chinese intellectuals of the Chinese Communist Party, the party that continues to govern China today. In this Blog post, Elisabeth Forster discusses\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comment and debate"","block_context":{"text":"Comment and debate","link":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/category\/comment-and-debate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2018\/10\/Chineselabourers-300x219.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":824,"url":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/2025\/08\/22\/political-witchcraft\/","url_meta":{"origin":340,"position":2},"title":"Political Witchcraft","author":"Craig Lambert","date":"22nd August 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"On 13 August, Southampton University hosted \u2018Political Witchcraft: Magic and the Politics of Representation,\u2019 an evening of public talks exploring how magical beliefs and practices have been researched, debated, and distorted by various interested parties at different times and places in history. Dr David Cox organised the event from Southampton\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes from the archive"","block_context":{"text":"Notes from the archive","link":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/category\/notes-from-the-archive\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2025\/08\/image-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2025\/08\/image-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2025\/08\/image-2.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2025\/08\/image-2.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":939,"url":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/2026\/03\/06\/contested-ideals-of-translation-in-the-early-sino-european-canton-trade-1550-1650-by-dr-jacob-fordham\/","url_meta":{"origin":340,"position":3},"title":"Contested ideals of translation in the early Sino-European Canton trade, 1550\u20131650, by Dr Jacob Fordham","author":"Elisabeth Forster","date":"6th March 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"This week, Dr Jacob Fordham (London School of Economics) gave a brilliant talk about translations and translators in the context of trade in south China in the 16th and 17th centuries. He asked: How can we write the history of translators known only elusively through the judgements of others? Can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes from the archive"","block_context":{"text":"Notes from the archive","link":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/category\/notes-from-the-archive\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2026\/03\/Jacob-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2026\/03\/Jacob-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2026\/03\/Jacob-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2026\/03\/Jacob-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2026\/03\/Jacob-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2026\/03\/Jacob-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":46,"url":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/2018\/01\/31\/how-a-history-of-conquest-shapes-the-present\/","url_meta":{"origin":340,"position":4},"title":"How a History of Conquest Shapes the Present","author":"Charlotte Riley","date":"31st January 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"One of our modern history lecturers, Dr Charlotte Lydia Riley, has written a piece with Professor Gurminder K. Bhambra about the legacies of the British empire in modern British culture. What do we mean when we talk about \u201cempire\u201d? We use the narratives of imperialism to describe everything from British\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comment and debate"","block_context":{"text":"Comment and debate","link":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/category\/comment-and-debate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2018\/01\/1705-1-Cover-web-240x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":873,"url":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/2025\/10\/17\/dr-charlotte-riley-wins-prestigious-prize\/","url_meta":{"origin":340,"position":5},"title":"Dr Charlotte Riley Wins Prestigious Prize","author":"Craig Lambert","date":"17th October 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"History\u2019s Charlotte Lydia Riley has won a very prestigious award from the American Historical Association. The prize is for her the American edition of her book,\u00a0Imperial Island: An Alternative History of the British Empire\u00a0(Harvard University Press, 2024). The prize is the Herbert Baxter Adams Prize for an author\u2019s first book\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes from the archive"","block_context":{"text":"Notes from the archive","link":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/category\/notes-from-the-archive\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2025\/10\/image-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3143"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":349,"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340\/revisions\/349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}