Autotraduction. Une perspective darwinienne

Temporarily evacuating the human factor, a Darwinian approach to cultural facts could prove an important source of additional explanation to textual, historical, biographical and sociological readings of self-translation. In this contribution, we quickly introduce some aspects of cultural evolution and their relevance for translation and Translation Studies; we then present the characteristics which (all else being equal) could enhance the success of a cultural object in relation to its competitors; finally, we try to understand, in light of these characteristics, some reasons for the practice of self-translation. These reasons should not be seen as the only valid ones, but as other reasons, valid for other entities (not human beings, but the cultural products themselves)