the remarks on these lines try to slip into this impressive knowledge building are open by a question: how are the translation into the language of oc and oïl the key to a real entry into culture? This question is located at the intersection of anthropology and politics. Does the translation into vernacular languages not reflect the idea that cultural fact is based on knowledge and confrontation with the language and knowledge of ‘other’ civilisation? The French translation gives this difference and the founding confrontation of writing and thinking of the Western Middle Ages a very special feature. What is the price of this “translative” relationship to the other? What values call for texts translated once received in medieval culture?