Translation and Conversation In Truth and Method by Hans-Georg Gadamer
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65828/wvw4gp12Keywords:
Tradition, practical knowledge, prejudices, application, translation, fusions of horizonsAbstract
How do we translate one language into another? Is there such a thing as a mechanical translation? Hans Georg Gadamer (1975) contends that there is no 'purely literal' translation, for we always read a text with our own pre-understanding based on personal, social or cultural experiences. Therefore translation is an interpretation. There is no universal meaning of a text. Highlighting the constitutive features of translation in Gadamer's Truth and Method (1975, 2004), this paper explores how we come to understand, in both translation and in conversation, and reflects how Gadamer's insights can help us to elucidate a process of understanding in the reciprocity of conversation.
Complete access to the full archive of articles is available with SEA membership. Existing members: please log in with your membership password to view full text. Non-members can buy a single article or issue by registering an account on this website, then selecting a padlocked full text button to purchase.
References
Dreyf us, H.L. (1992). What Computers Still Can't Do: A Critique of Artificial Reason. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Elden, S. (2006). Speaking against Number: Heidegger, Language and the Politics of Calculation. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/upo9780748626281
Gadamer, H.G. (1975). Truth and Method. Trans. Barden, G. and Cumming, J. New York: Seabury Press.
Gadamer, H.G. (2004). Truth and Method. Trans. Weinsheimer, J. and Marshall, D.G. 3rd ed. London: Continuum.
Gadamer, H.G. (1992). Hans-Georg Gadamer on Education, Poetry, and History: Applied Hermeneutics. Nicholson, G. and Misgeld, D. (eds) Trans. Schmidt, L. and Reuss, M. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781438413280
Heidegger, M. (1962). Being and Time. Trans. Macquarrie, J. and Robinson, E. San Francisco: Harper.
Hutchins, J. (1997). 'First Steps In Mechanical Translation' University of East Anglia, Norwich. [Online] Available from: www.hutchinsweb.me.uk/MTS-1997.pdf [Accessed 30 September 2009].
Kearney, R. (2004). Debates in continental philosophy: conversations with contemporary thinkers. New York: Fordham University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9780823291359
Lawn, C. (2006). Gadamer: A Guide for the Perplexed. London: Continuum. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5040/9781472546555
Tingley, E. (2004). Gadamer and the light of the word. First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life, 139: p.38.
Todres, L. (2007). Embodied Enquiry: Phenomenological Touchstones for Research, Psychotherapy and Spirituality. Hampshire, U.K.: Palgrave Macmillan.
