On Horses and Carts : Further Thoughts on Translation

概要

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This essay elaborates on (and takes further) some of the issues raised in the Prolegomenon on Translation (published in these pages last summer): that whereas English is an agent-centred language, Japanese blurs agency, that where English is deductive, Japanese is inductive, that while English is outward looking, Japanese looks inwards. The essay considers some of the consequences of these characteristics when we need to translate from Japanese into English, and the problems that need to be solved when we try to do so. It offers a model example of how these consequences may be faced and the problems solved. The essay combines this account with a review of a recent Symposium on the translation of literary works and thus broadens its scope to take, in wider and more general ideas about translation, its uses and its importance. No new conclusions are reached, but an attempt is made to present an overview of the reasons why the act of translation raises questions of principle that may be irresolvable while yet offering opportunities for cultural cross-communication that are ultimately of henpfit rathpr than harm.
北海学園大学の論文
2000-03-31