‘Eleven different names, one practice’: towards a phenomenology of translation

ABSTRACT

This article challenges the notion that etymological differences in nomenclature for translation practices across the world is meaningful. It presents data from South Africa that show that the different languages in South Africa use words with diverse etymology but that these differences are not reflected in translation practice. Having made the point that etymological differences do not necessarily provide insight into translation practice, the article then proceeds to suggest a scholarly definition of translation, based on Peircean semiotics. The article further contributes to the conceptualisation of a philosophy of translation by arguing that the biosemiotic theory of translation, based on Peircean semiotics (proposed elsewhere by the author), indeed constitutes a phenomenology of translation.

KEYWORDS:

• translation
• semiotics
• etymology
• intersemiotic translation
• translation theory

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributor

Kobus Marais is professor of translation studies in the Department of Linguistics and Language Practice at the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa. He has published two monographs, namely Translation theory and development studies: A complexity theory approach (2014) and A (bio)semiotic theory of translation: The emergence of social-cultural reality (2018). He has also published two edited volumes, one with Ilse Feinauer, Translation studies beyond the postcolony (2017), and one with Reine Meylaerts, Complexity thinking in translation studies: Methodological considerations (2018). His research interests are translation theory, complexity thinking, semiotics/biosemiotics and development studies.

Notes

1 I have no knowledge about the history of these terms – or whether it would be possible to determine precolonial or colonial origins. This might be a topic for another research project.

2 I ordered the languages alphabetically for two reasons. Firstly, alphabetical ordering removes suspicions that I am biased towards particular languages, which is a topic of debate in contemporary South Africa. Secondly, alphabetical ordering makes it easier for readers to cross-reference between the text and the table.

3 Peirce’s (1931–1958) Collected Papers, cited as CP [Vol#]. [Paragraph#].

4 I refer here to discussions at the recent EST conference in Stellenbosch in 2019. In particular, I had in-depth discussions with Salah Basalamah about a philosophy of translation, and I thank him for being willing to be a sparring partner in this debate. See also the abstract of Basalamah’s paper at the EST conference at http://www.est2019.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/EST-2019-ABSTRACT-BOOK-1.pdf.

Additional information

Funding

Funding from the South African National Research Foundation’s funding for rated researchers is acknowledged.