Abstract
From a debate started by Charles Le Blanc in his book Le Complexe d’Hermès against translation study theories, the author reviews three kinds of criticism - the theoretical scope of translation studies, the figure of the Other, and the role of Bildung - each time returning to the texts written by Antoine Berman in response to Le Blanc’s criticism. It is then unveiled that in this polemic one can find a work close in spirit to that of German Romantics and an invitation to continue reflection beyond the strict debate on translation to bring it to “what society is made of”.