MARGARET CAVENDISH AND THE ART OF TRANSLATION

Abstract

In Margaret Cavendish’s natural philosophy, all matter—including thoughts—exists in a process of translation: that is, matter never dies, but simply adopts new forms. I argue that, across her fictional texts, Cavendish depicts interpretation (or reading) as an act of material “translation” that is capable of producing an endless proliferation of her ideas. This focus on replication also allows her readers to actively generate layers of textual meaning alongside the author—and, according to Cavendish’s philosophy, these meanings take on material form in the mind of readers. By depicting writing and reading as acts of translation—whereby readers materially reproduce in their minds her ideas, characters, and self-projections—Cavendish’s texts exist as not just material documents but also corporealised bodies of thought that exist in multiple, living forms (both in the seventeenth century and today). Both her fiction and philosophy guarantee, then, that Cavendish fulfils her desire to live in “After-ages.”