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120 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1912
I don't think of him,On the Soul of The Soul of Napoleon
but I use his lines all the time
— Eileen Myles, Skies (2001)
"One will be incapable of understanding anything about Napoleon as long as one does not see in him a poet, an incomparable poet in action. His poem is his entire life, and there is nothing that equals it. He always thought as a poet and could act only as he thought, the visible world being for him merely a mirage. His astounding proclamations bear sufficient witness [. . .] Napoleon is he then [sic] the poet of destiny? The events he speaks of [sic] have demonstrated historically the irreality [sic], or, if one prefers, the inanity of his great designs, but they did not demonstrate it in the soul of that Emperor of emperors, where they had, clearly, a prophetic consistency, a [sic] indemonstrable reality" (117).An un-happy co-incidence of bad writing: the quality of the argument in these final phrases seems to be reflected in the quality of the translation. The selection is notable for two Gallicisms and an improper indefinite article in the space of two sentences. In such circumstances I am sometimes tempted to turn back to the translator's forward to renew my stores of good will. My edition of The Soul of Napoleon (1912), translated by Richard Robinson, however, does not contain the expected material, i.e. a brief reflection on the task of the translator. There is no discussion of the translation process at all. Robinson's forward — in bizarre fashion — consists instead of a white nationalist harangue against the Black Lives Matter movement.
I'm a huge fan of Napoleon I, or Bonaparte. Until about a month ago, as i turns out, it wasn't my intention to translate this book, not yet. I had something else on my mind. I stumbled, tripped, fell over this article in the March 6, 2021 issue of The Economist: 'Despot, genius or both? France argues about Napoleon: As his bicentenary approaches, tempers rise.'Well, one can put anything in a book, I suppose. A few things are notable here. First, the translator appears to have completed his work some time between the publication of the Economist article under discussion (March 6th, 2021) and the date this text was accepted for publication (April 5, 2021). Noting that this text appears to have been put together in less than a month, we have an inadvertent answer to our initial question regarding its somewhat dubious quality. The loose, chatty prose on display here also seems to speak to this.
When I saw the title to the article, I got excited. Anything and everything about Napoleon, his history, his achievements, his battles, his administration, his legacy, his personal life, the ground he stood on —excite [sic] me. Always has, always will. Call me naïve or childish: I'm a fan of Napoleon.
But as I started to read the article, quickly my enthusiasm changed. True to the article's subtitle, I got incensed, and my temper rose. It rose to the degree where I nearly put down the article (well, nearly clicked away from it) when I got to this section: 'The Black Lives Matter movement has emboldened those who reject any celebration of a leader who reintroduced slavery to the French West Indies in 1802. Nicholas Mayer-Rossignol, the Socialist mayor of Rouen, says he wants to replace the imposing bronze statue of the emperor on horseback that stands outside his Normandy town hall.'
Now, I'm not a proponent of slavery. It's almost silly that I should feel the need to say that. But [sic] it is a historical fact, slavery, and not just a recent one. To talk of slavery in the context of Napoleon seems self-serving to me. Slavery is one of the last things that comes to anyone's mind when thinking or talking about Napoleon. Napoleon's greatness does not stand on whether he sent or did not send slaves anywhere. To judge him on that count is like judging a doctor as if he were a pastry cook. And how is it that the BLM [sic], or those who subscribe to it [sic], get to measure Western [sic] leaders and heroes, culture, achievements, and marvels [sic] by the yardstick they choose? Did I agree to that? Did you?
[. . .]
No one needs their temper raised, which often begets violence. When it's a question of a statue or a monument, or a book that one does not like or approve of, we should just look the other way, turn the other cheek, like I do when I see the signs and slogans on so many lawns, in so many windows, ad nauseam, in my neighborhood and city, proselytizing to me, about something I don't subscribe to, and co-opting my nation. 'In Our America…' Our? That includes me, right? Or did I give my neighbors and fellow citizens the right to speak exclusively on my behalf all of a sudden? No, I did not, but I leave the signs in place on their lawns and in their windows all the same." (10)