The Direct Method: Ezra Pound, Non-Translation, and the International Future

Abstract

This chapter explores how literary non-translation might be considered as an instance in a broader reevaluation of translation as a social, political and pedagogical practice in the wake of the First World War and the rise of internationalism during the 1920s. What kind of literature would be produced by ‘the international mind’ of that decade, to use the popular phrase coined by Nicholas Butler? While the increased discussion and popularity of international languages like Interlingua, Esperanto, and Basic English might suggest that translation between languages was replaced by translation into a new or modified international language, writers appear to have been more interested in preserving the diversity of national languages by incorporating non-translated elements into their texts. The chapter explores these issues through analysis of Ezra Pound’s connections with The Future magazine.