the via regia to translation in psychoanalysis

The translation of a psychoanalytic text from one language to another requires not only a mastery of both languages, but also a sharp knowledge of the psychoanalytic culture and the concepts used by the author, just as well in the source than in the target language of the translation.

That is why we entrust this task exclusively to practitioners of psychoanalysis and analytic psychotherapy whose work will be to import the text, as well as the theoretical concepts of the author’s branch into the target language of the translation. The starting point of this work is a good listening ability of what the author seeks to express, or of what his patients says, in the case of translating the words of a patient or the verbatim of exchanges in a session. A translator that is himself a practitioner seems to us best placed to carry out this delicate task.

We propose our way of working as the via regia of translation in psychoanalysis: Depending on the texts and the language pairs to be treated, our translations will be carried out either by a single practitioner who is a native speaker of the target language of translation, or by two practitioners, including a native speaker in the translation’s target language. VIA REGIA aims to create a network of psychoanalysts translators that covers all language pairs between English, French, German, Spanish, and Italian. Other languages could follow; upon request we commit to search for an analyst translator for the language in question. The colleagues who work as independents for VIA REGIA have a good experience. In fact, they have translated, among others, texts for the European Federation of Psychoanalysis (EPF) Bulletin "Psychoanalysis in Europe", publications in psychoanalytic journals, as well as books for different publishing houses. If you fulfill these conditions yourself and are interested in handling translations, please communicate it to us.

We are willing to treat:

- theoretico-clinical texts,

- transcripts or reports of sessions,

- case reports with or without theoretical discussion.

Do you plan to send out a text for translation?

In this case you can send it without commitment as Word document to viaregia.be@gmail.com where it will be first reviewed by Dr. Eike Wolff, IPA psychoanalyst, former Editor of the EPF and translator himself. He will study the text and draw up a free quote. Where necessary, he will also take care of the translation’s "final check" before sending it to the orderer. The price of a translation depends on several factors, such as the extent of work on quotes whose sources are not sufficiently specified and/or which must be found in its "Urtext" or in a translation already existing in the target language. The price also depends on the time given to the translator; "express" translations are a little more expensive. After reception of the quote, you decide whether you place an order for the translation or not.

Who are we?

VIA REGIA is an activity carried out by:

WOLFF & WOLFF SRL (=LTD)

Rue Jean-Baptiste Meunier 17 --- B-1050 Bruxelles

Company and tax number: BE 0697.658.048

Manager: Eike Wolff

Other activities of this company include:

Editing services

1. Preparation to a book’s edition

We can for instance revise and format a collection of your articles that you could then present as a book draft to a publishing house. The scope of this preparatory work is defined with you after reading carefully your texts and your project as a whole. Possible services include: content proofreading, revision and linguistic finishing, chapters and book formatting, production of the definitive file for the publishing house.

2. Edition and production of a book

The final file may also be used to have your book edited by VIA REGIA EDITIONS, either as an authored book financed and distributed entirely by yourself, or as a book edited by VIA REGIA EDITIONS with an ISBN number – therefore distributable and salable on the book market, for example via Amazon. The financial conditions depend on the project and are set by contract. Before concluding such contract, we will, in a preliminary and commitment-free phase, study the feasibility of the project as to find the solutions best adapted to your demand.