Vrais et faux repentirs : heurs et malheurs de la relation auteur-relecteur

When working on a written text, the first version of a passage rarely corresponds to the one that will eventually be published. If 'repentance', considered as the correction of what is judged imperfect by the author himself, is consubstantial to the act of writing, we often tend to forget that the final version of a text is, as a general rule, the result of decisions taken, in a consensual or conflicting mode, within the relationship between the author and his reviewers. In this article, based on our experience as linguists and translators from French into Italian, we will present some reflections on the function (positive or negative) of reviewers (anonymous or known) in the elaboration of the final version of a written text.