Conferences as Epistemological Experiments - Purity, Plurality, and the Politics of Knowledge

of two native German speakers, we hope that we have arrived at a satisfactory resolution. Mangelerscheinung was the trickiest element. Literally, it translates as “deficiency symptom,” a medico-biological concept denoting the lack of some nutrient critical to physical well-being (e.g., a vitamin deficiency). Although the literal translation has a “clunky” feel, we decided to restrain poetic license and remain loyal to it, fearing the loss of relevant metaphorical content or the addition of spurious new meaning. We offer as our translation: “These days, order is mostly there where nothing is. It is a deficiency symptom.” Presumably Brecht had a malaise of the soul in mind, not body!