Translation as cultural mediation in periodicals: Virginia Woolf’s essays in Figaro , 1929–1932

This essay argues that the fields of periodical studies and translation studies can be productively integrated to explore cultural transfer and mediation. It specifically examines how authors circulate and are received across linguistic boundaries and national periodical cultures. It also investigates the strategies that shape authorial identities in local contexts, as well as the role of translators and publishers as cultural mediators in transnational settings. This theoretical framework is particularly valuable for analyzing Virginia Woolf’s presence in French periodicals between the late 1920s and early 1930s, chiefly in Figaro. Among Woolf’s works, the journal published only her periodical essays, all translated into French by a single translator, Jeanne Fournier-Pargoire. Figaro showed a marked interest in Woolf’s criticism, printing nine of her pieces between February 1929 and January 1932. The fact that these essays were conceived for, and recently or simultaneously published in, Anglo-American periodicals deserves attention, as does the near-total absence of any (para)textual apparatus accompanying them. By examining these editorial choices alongside the impact of Fournier-Pargoire’s translation strategies, the essay seeks to illuminate the overlooked role that Figaro played in mediating Woolf’s criticism transnationally and disseminating her profile in interwar France.