About the Mission

To publish high-quality scholarly translations and editions of primary-source texts.

     Large quantities of valuable primary sources in dozens of languages have yet to be translated into English. And in many academic fields that require knowledge of non-English languages, there is not an expectation that their scholars would produce full-text translations of primary sources. Rather, the common expectation is to conduct research using such primary sources to produce argument-proving books, articles, and dissertations or theses, written mainly or entirely in English. From graduate students to distinguished professors, virtually all strive to wisely commentate on the primary sources, while relatively few have worked focally on translating them. Is this the direction in which we should continue in Anglophone academia?

    To be sure, it is certainly worthwhile to put forth arguments and commentate. Yet assuming that one of the fundamental purposes of regional/area studies in Anglophone academia is to help the Anglophone world become a little more knowledgeable, thus a little less ignorant, of non-Anglophone civilizations, then would it not make sense to treat translating primary sources from those very civilizations as a high priority? Without such translations, the vast majority of Anglophones would essentially remain cut off from the contents of those primary sources. They can benefit from the English-language secondary literature, but they would not have the chance to engage with the primary sources themselves. Therefore, if we care about spreading knowledge about civilizations across language lines while enabling individuals to think more independently, we should translate more.

     And no text-based regional/area studies discipline could do very wrong by having its students devote the bulk of their studies to reading primary sources and show that they have understood the sources well by being able to accurately translate them. If the worry is that the students would not be able to think critically enough, then perhaps training in epistemology and logic are in order. If students’ analytical writing skills are weak, they should practice more analytical writing. But without having them focus first on careful and extensive reading of the primary sources, the argument-proving works they write would be on weak foundations.