Paul Reitter | Humanities Lecture "Translating and Teaching Capital in the 21st Century".
Marx’s Capital Revisited: Translating and Teaching Capital in the 21st Century.
In times of the global rise of right-wing authoritarianism, it becomes ever more urgent to rethink major works of critical theory. Karl Marx’s three-volume critique of political economy, Capital, ranks undoubtedly among the most impactful works of the long 19th century. Paul Reitter’s new translation of the first volume of Capital (Princeton UP 2024), the only one published during Marx’s lifetime, shines a light on aspects of Marx’s critique that have long remained obscured to its readers in English. Described as an “astounding achievement” (China Mieville) that “makes it possible to think about Capital anew and as a new kind of book” (Edwin Frank), Reitter’s translation highlights the contradictions immanent to the enduring substance of capital—value—and thus points us toward the continuing relevance of Marx’s work as we confront the mounting crises of the 21st century.
Paul Reitter is professor of Germanic languages and literatures and former director of the Humanities Institute at the Ohio State University. His translations include The Autobiography of Solomon Maimon (Princeton).