Olivier Mannoni is a leading French translator of German-language philosophy and political thought. For over thirty years, he has introduced major thinkers such as Peter Sloterdijk and Byung-Chul Han to French readers, handling texts known for their conceptual density and stylistic complexity. Alongside his translations, Mannoni writes essays on language and politics, focusing in particular on the rhetoric of contemporary extremism. He has more than two hundred translations to his name, including classics and in 2021, published with Fayard a translation of Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler, titled Historicizing Evil: A Critical Edition of Mein Kampf. He subsequently published Translating Hitler (Héloïse d’Ormesson, 2022), followed by Brown Tide: How Fascism Floods Our Language (2024).

How did you come into contact with Peter Sloterdijk and Byung-Chul Han?

OM: Through the usual channels. As a translator, one is typically approached by publishers who offer texts they believe we are both capable of translating and likely to find engaging. In Sloterdijk’s case, if I recall correctly, it goes back a very long time—around 1998 or 1999, so roughly twenty-five or twenty-six years ago. It was the philosopher Anne Dufourmantelle—who tragically passed away in distressing circumstances—who first proposed one of his texts to me. Shortly thereafter, Maren Sell, who served as Sloterdijk’s editor across several publishing houses, took over. I worked with her continuously until Sloterdijk moved to Payot. That is essentially how it unfolded. As for Han, if memory serves, the first book I translated was offered to me by Autrement editions. I then translated for the Presses Universitaires de France, followed by Actes Sud.

In both cases, the initial connection is mediated by publishers. With Sloterdijk, however, the relationship developed further: I have met him frequently. We work closely together; he speaks French and is extremely demanding about his texts. He rereads everything I produce, so our collaboration is very direct. For the recent book Le livre de l’Europe, we worked almost in real time. He was delivering his lectures at the Collège de France, and I received the texts week by week. I would translate them and return them to him; he would then revise both his original and my translation simultaneously. It was an intense process. With Han, the situation is entirely different. I have never met him; I wrote to him once. He is a very private individual, rarely encountered. So........

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