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This article analyzes some cases of lack of understanding as well as of misunderstandings and errors, voluntary or otherwise, which punctuate the sessions of French- Russian Studio, an important place of intellectual and cultural exchanges between Russian émigrés and French intellectuals between the Wars. These errors and misunderstandings turn out to be rather productive ones, leading sometimes to lively discussions. Two notions, humanism and intellectualism, become a real stumbling block to debates: being regularly referred to at the sessions devoted to Gide, Valéry, Proust and Descartes, they are differently interpreted by Russian and French debators. This reflects not only the explicit difficulties in translation of philosophical and cultural notions but also some implicit discrepancies in production of meaning.
The erroneous translation of Aristotle's Poetics by the famous Andalusi philosopher Averroes seems to be one the fundamental reasons why an autochthon Arab theater appeared quite late, namely after the Napoleonic campaign of 1798 in Egypt which started an extensive process of acculturation between the Arab countries and the West. Our contribution will explore the first theatrical experience in the Arab world, that of the Lebanese Mārūn Naqqāš (1817-1855): as every initial experiment, his attempt is inevitably voted to errors and misunderstandings. The analysis of errors will allow us to reflect on the new readings and interpretations of Western theatrical heritage made by the first Arabic drama.