Change and continuity in historical translation policies through institutional models and policy circulation: the case of the League of Nations

This article provides an overview of the language and translation policies of the League of Nations by focusing on the way the latter dealt with translation from or into its official languages, as well as its practices to handle the use of non-official languages. The League’s policy is here put in dialogue with the language and translation policies of previous and subsequent bodies, such as the Paris Peace Conference, through the notion of institutional models. While institutional models circulate, this chapter argues that the contexts in which institutional practices were decided, often do not. The article concludes by discussing the League’s language and translation policy from the perspective of policy circulation, an approach that can offer precious insights into contradictions between policies, practices and beliefs, and offer inspiration for addressing contemporary challenges.