The Concept of Equivalence in Translation Studies

Target ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra L. Halverson
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Translation Theory ◽  
Points Of View

Abstract Within translation studies, there remains a certain amount of unnecessary discord concerning the use of the equivalence concept and its relevance for translation theory. In the interest of better understanding the various points of view, it seems helpful to consider different perspectives on this concept in light of the varying philosophical assumptions on which they are based. Analogies between the equivalence concept and a concept of scientific knowledge as it is and has been studied within the philosophy of science are highly informative in pointing out the philosophical issues involved in equivalence, translation, and knowledge. Rather than dismissing the concept as ill-defined or imprecise, it is in the interest of the field of translation studies to consider the origins and manifestations of this 'imprecision ' in order that we may be better informed and less inclined towards theoretical antagonism.

scholarly journals Method and Theory: On the Compilation of a Collection of Texts in Estonian Translation History

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Katiliina Gielen ◽  
Klaarika Kaldjärv
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Literary History ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Translation Theory ◽  
Comprehensive Picture ◽  
Points Of View ◽  
Ongoing Project ◽  
Insight Into

Translation history is a part of cultural history and a necessary component of any literary history, but documenting it may prove to be a challenge. The present article is an attempt to describe and exemplify an ongoing project of mapping Estonian translation history through metatexts on translational issues based on the writings of translators, editors and other figures close to translation throughout Estonian literary history. The reason for collecting translational thought into one compilation lies in the importance of translation for Estonian culture both retrospectively as well as keeping in mind the future of translation and language policies and practices.The article is thematically divided into two parts. The first part is concerned with the analysis of already existing methodologies for compiling translation histories. Still, in order to get a comprehensive picture, different angles have to be considered and different methodologies applied on the material that has come down to us. Thus, what follows is the description of the ongoing project and its slightly different, empirics driven methodology.The second part of the paper gives an insight into one of the seven major topics that have emerged from the work with the texts in Estonian translation history. It is based on the discussions whether practitioners need theory, or more generally, what is translation theory and who needs it? The examples are taken from the articles and interviews with Estonian practicing translators and people close to translation such as literary critics, editors, etc. and cover the second half of the 20th century up to the contemporary times. Our aim was to show practitioners as theorists and thus narrow the gap between theory and practice of translation which has proved to be a general problem also in other cultural settings, end even currently when translation studies has established itself as a discipline. The issue has been discussed by many prominent translation studies scholars and the present article will take the opportunity to introduce their points of view.

Semiotics East and West: an aesthetic-semiotic approach to translating the iconicity of classical Chinese poetry

Semiotica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guangxu Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Translation Theory ◽  
Chinese Poetry ◽  
Semiotic Approach ◽  
Classical Chinese ◽  
Classical Chinese Poetry ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The Sacrifice

Abstract For some Western translators before the twentieth century, domestication was their strategy to translate the classical Chinese poetry into English. But the consequence of this strategy was the sacrifice of the ideogrammic nature of these poems. The translators in the twentieth century, especially the Imagist poets and translators in the 1930s, overcame the problems of their predecessors and their translation theory and practice was close to that of the contemporary semiotic translators. But both Imagist translators and contemporary semiotic translators have the problem of indifference to the feeling of the original in their translations. For the problem of translating the classical Chinese poetry by the Westerners before the twentieth century and the Imagist poets and translators of the twentieth century, see Zhao and Flotow 2018. This paper attempts to set up an aesthetic-semiotic approach to the translation of the iconicity of classical Chinese poetry on the basis of the examination of both Eastern and Western translation studies.

The Theory of Social Relay by M.A. Rozov: Pathway for Understanding

2021 ◽  
pp. 146-160
Author(s):  
Nataliya I. Kuznetsova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Empirical Analysis ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
New World ◽  
Social Memory ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Russian Philosopher ◽  
Methodological Problems ◽  
The Empirical Analysis ◽  
Goals And Objectives

The article analyzes the problems of modern epistemology in the context of pre­senting the views and philosophical heritage of the famous Russian philosopher Mikhail Alexandrovich Rozov. The relevance of the theory of social relay devel­oped by him and the corresponding “wave” ontology, especially in the period of thematic, terminological and substantial transformations of modern epistemo­logy, is shown. The author carry out the idea that without solving the ontological and methodological problems of the empirical analysis of scientific knowledge, it is impossible to correctly investigate knowledge. The article describes in detail the logic of Rozov’s reasoning, and also demonstrates the scale of M.A. Rozov on the reforming of epistemology and philosophy of science, on the formulation of an urgent agenda, problems, goals and objectives of the study of knowledge. The bottom line is that understanding semiotic objects (scientific knowledge) as phenomena of social memory, which are reproduced according to direct or indi­rect (verbalized) patterns, opens a new world of social relay races. The broad ap­plicability of Rozov’s theory in various empirical contexts is demonstrated, which allows discussing both traditional and modern philosophical and method­ological problems of the natural and socio-humanitarian sciences, as well as in epistemology and philosophy of science.

Critical Realism

2021 ◽  
pp. 69-72
Author(s):  
Dominik Giese ◽  
Jonathan Joseph
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Scientific Realism ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Critical Realism ◽  
Alternative View ◽  
Science And Society ◽  
The Real ◽  
Critical Realist ◽  
Ontological Question ◽  
The World

This chapter evaluates critical realism, a term which refers to a philosophy of science connected to the broader approach of scientific realism. In contrast to other philosophies of science, such as positivism and post-positivism, critical realism presents an alternative view on the questions of what is ‘real’ and how one can generate scientific knowledge of the ‘real’. How one answers these questions has implications for how one studies science and society. The critical realist answer starts by prioritizing the ontological question over the epistemological one, by asking: What must the world be like for science to be possible? Critical realism holds the key ontological belief of scientific realism that there is a reality which exists independent of our knowledge and experience of it. Critical realists posit that reality is more complex, and made up of more than the directly observable. More specifically, critical realism understands reality as ‘stratified’ and composed of three ontological domains: the empirical, the actual, and the real. Here lies the basis for causation.

Perceptual Paradigms

2021 ◽  
pp. 23-42
Author(s):  
William Fish
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Good Thing ◽  
Philosophical Thinking ◽  
Philosophy Of Perception ◽  
Visual Science ◽  
Research Programmes

Everyone would agree that contemporary philosophical thinking and theorizing about perception should both be aware of, and consistent with, the findings of visual science. Yet despite this consensus, there is little discussion—and even less agreement—about how this should work in practice. This chapter proposes that we can gain useful insights by bringing some tools from the philosophy of science to bear on this question. Focusing on the disagreement between Burge and McDowell as to whether or not disjunctivism in the philosophy of perception is ‘directly at odds with scientific knowledge’ (Burge 2005, 29), the chapter suggests that interesting insights can be gained by seeing this debate through a Kuhnian lens—as a clash of paradigms (or, more strictly, Lakatosian research programmes)—and then investigate the methodological consequences that flow from this. It contends that looking at this debate through this lens not only sheds light on why it can seem so intractable, but also provides us with reassurance that this might be a good thing.

Kognitive Textverarbeitung und Verstehen fürs Übersetzen

2021 ◽  
pp. 137-168
Author(s):  
Anna Pavlova
Keyword(s):  
Translation Studies ◽  
Translation Theory ◽  
Scholarly Work ◽  
Text Understanding ◽  
Key Features

There has been an increasing amount of published scholarly work on hermeneutics and translation studies. However, hardly any work has been done to connect hermeneutic approaches to translation and hermeneutic approaches to psycholinguistics. This essay accordingly seeks to identify some of the key features common to both translation theory and psycholinguistics. At issue is finding areas of interaction and overlap between these two areas of enquiry, especially in relation to the hermeneutic account of text understanding processes.

Archē

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard McKirahan
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Technical Term ◽  
Scientific Principles ◽  
Basic Entity

Archē, or ‘principle’, is an ancient Greek philosophical term. Building on earlier uses, Aristotle established it as a technical term with a number of related meanings, including ‘originating source’, ‘cause’, ‘principle of knowledge’ and ‘basic entity’. Accordingly, it acquired importance in metaphysics, epistemology and philosophy of science, and also in the particular sciences. According to Aristotle’s doctrine of scientific principles, all sciences and all scientific knowledge are founded on principles (archai) of a limited number of determinate kinds.

Social Organization of Science

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Carrier
Keyword(s):  
Social Organization ◽  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Social Epistemology ◽  
Social Roles ◽  
Scientific Communities ◽  
Science Section ◽  
The Social ◽  
Organization Of Science ◽  
Knowledge Claims

The social organization of science as a topic of philosophy of science mostly concerns the question of which kinds of social organization are most beneficial to the epistemic aspirations of science. Section 1 addresses the interaction among scientists for improving epistemic qualities of knowledge claims in contrast to the mere accumulation of contributions from several scientists. Section 2 deals with the principles that are supposed to organize this interaction among scientists such that well-tested and well-confirmed knowledge is produced. Section 3 outlines what is supposed to glue scientific communities together and how society at large is assumed to affect the social organization of these communities. Section 4 attends to social epistemology (i.e., to attempts to explore the influence of social roles and characteristics on the system of scientific knowledge and confirmation practices).

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