The Translations of a Humanist Ship Captain: Jean Parmentier’s 1529 Voyage to Sumatra*

Abstract

AbstractThis article uses the multifaceted meaning of the wordtranslationas an analytic key to understand and analyze social and epistemic change in early modern France.Translationis here taken to mean not simply the rendering of one language into another, but also a physical displacement from one location to another, and the movement of knowledge and expertise from one discipline (and social status) to another. The manifold ideas and practices associated with translation are used to chart the voyage of Jean Parmentier, a humanist, poet, and ship captain from Dieppe, as he guided his ship and crew to Sumatra in 1529.