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Relational description as pivotal to dialogical translation

The instance of Western look at Chinese thought
  • Gerald Cipriani ORCID logo EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: October 16, 2024
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Abstract

Depending on whether translation leans toward objective rendering or subjective interpretation it will have different truth-functions. This essay reflects on the issues of truth-function at stake on both sides of the “hosting” language (translation) when seeking to understand “otherness” (original language). The essay will draw from particular examples of translation of Chinese thought such as the literal renderings of the Classics in Western languages, Li Zehou’s concept of “subjectality” (zhutixing 主體性) and François Jullien’s Western-inverted “deconstruction”. The point here is not to establish validity in translation, but to describe what are the cognitive and ethical implications when understanding and performing translation – a relational description thus presented as precondition for the possibility of translation-as-dialogue.

Acknowledgement

This publication is supported by the National Science and Technology Council of Taiwan. Project Reference: NSTC 111-2811-H-008–012 / NSTC 110-2410-H-008 -048 -MY3. The publication is the latest outcome of a research work that started on the occasion of the 2018 Tunghai University’s conference Interpreting Chinese philosophical texts – theories, case studies and praxis (解讀中國哲學文本—理論、個案與實踐). A first draft was entitled “Interpreting otherness in translation: What transpires through the looking glass”. The research was then presented on the occasion of the 2020 Values and identities seminar series at the School of History and Philosophy of National University of Ireland, Galway, under the title “The changing virtues of the hosting language: Notes on the philosophy of translation”, and subsequently at the 2022 forum Chinese cultures, translation and contemporaneity: Literature – cinema – performance – visual arts, co-hosted by Tsinghua University (Beijing) and the University of New South Wales (Sydney). At each phase I have been indebted to the commentators, my colleagues and graduate students for their constructive and critical inputs, which have led to the present essay.

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Published Online: 2024-10-16
Published in Print: 2024-11-06

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