The article revisits the way in which translation shapes language and thought in a given moment. It takes the example of how, in early 20th-century China, the lexicon used to describe psychic life was gradually transformed as Freudian concepts were being imported to certain circles in China, while Freud himself was still alive. In this case, translation did not shift conceptions by bringing new ideas into play: it even more dramatically affected the language itself, bringing it the means necessary to express what had hitherto been literally inexpressible.
