Language & Translation
“Ecology shows that a variety of forms is a prerequisite for biological survival. Monocultures are vulnerable and easily destroyed. Plurality in human ecology functions in the same way. One language in one nation does not bring about equity or harmony for the members or groups of that nation.”
The activity of translation has yet proven to be—so the argument runs—a conditio sin qua non for human communication. And whilst Peter Mühlhäusler argues that “The transition from polylingualism to monolingualism is accelerating”, the activity of translation remains a universalistic—yet particularistic—tool for language maintenance. Translation—in theory—concerns the rendering of linguistic discourse from one language to another; and whilst the linguistic ability is a defining characteristic of the human race, translation—as a matter of course—is rather vital for the theory of language.
Translation in Theory – Steiner’s Hermeneutic Motion
Steiner’s contributions to the study of language are no tenuous—his model, the “Hermeneutic Motion”, divides the process of translation into a tetrad of stages: (1) Trust; according to Steiner: “All understanding, and the demonstrative statement of understanding, which is translation, starts with an act of trust” (157)—that is, the translator must trust that a linguistic entity, although foreign to them, is indeed meaningful, and in keeping with this approach, a linguistic entity is indeed decipherable. (2) Aggression; entertaining the Hegelian thought that all cognition is aggressive, to Steiner, foreign texts must be tackled aggressively; for the act of understanding is invasive and extractive rather than passive. (3) Incorporation; this stage entails the embodiment of the extracted meaning into a new linguistic entity. (4) Restitution; Steiner argues that translators can overinterpret a given text—the effects of such overinterpretation can be manifested during the Incorporation stage, and translators must revive the balance between the source and target texts.
