Translation as Conceptual Reverberation: “Revolution” in Wales 1688–1937

Abstract

Drawing on Reinhart Koselleck’s conceptual history, this essay traces the various words coined to convey the concept of revolution in Welsh in reaction to various moments of upheaval from the Glorious Revolution of 1688 to the American War of Independence and the French Revolution. Whereas at first writers opted for the positive adymchweliad (which had religious connotations suggesting a return to God) or the more neutral cyfnewidiad llywodraeth (a change of government), from 1797 on they began to use the more negative chwyldro, which evoked a dizzying circular movement. Chwyldro would go on to become the standard Welsh concept for revolution. As Marion Löffler shows, this semantic shift reflected a growing concern about the direction of the uprising following the attempted French invasion of Britain through Wales.