Translation Criticism as a Dialogue. A Hermeneutic Model

Piotr de Bończa Bukowski

Titles

Abstract

In this article, I reflect on the productivity of hermeneutic translation criticism, focusing on literary translation. I pose the question whether the hermeneutic mode of translation analysis and evaluation – largely based on the premises of Romantic art criticism – has the potential to make a significant contribution to contemporary discussions on the functional model of translation criticism. My argument is that the source of the productivity (and functionality) of translation criticism is dialogicity – a feature that can be considered fundamental in the case of hermeneutics. Following the dialogical hermeneutics of F. Schlegel, F. Schleiermacher and H.-G. Gadamer, as well as H.R. Jauß’s aesthetics of reception, I formulate some general postulates regarding a hermeneutic critique of literary translations. This critical mode is interrogative: it locates and poses questions that are answered by the examined texts. The critic’s questions include those about the original and for the original, about the translator and for the translator, as well as about the reader and for the reader. Finally, I demonstrate cases in which a critical dialogue crystallizes around literary translations. It is a dialogue that can be shaped and interpreted by the postulated hermeneutic translation criticism.

Originally published in Polish in “Przekładaniec” vol. 42/2021. Open access for this publication has been supported by a grant from the Priority Research Area Heritage under the Strategic Programme Excellence Initiative at Jagiellonian University.

Translated by: Zofia Ziemann.

In this article, I reflect on the productivity of hermeneutic translation criticism, focusing on literary translation. I pose the question whether the hermeneutic mode of translation analysis and evaluation – largely based on the premises of Romantic art criticism – has the potential to make a significant contribution to contemporary discussions on the functional model of translation criticism. My argument is that the source of the productivity (and functionality) of translation criticism is dialogicity – a feature that can be considered fundamental in the case of hermeneutics. Following the dialogical hermeneutics of F. Schlegel, F. Schleiermacher and H.-G. Gadamer, as well as H.R. Jauß’s aesthetics of reception, I formulate some general postulates regarding a hermeneutic critique of literary translations. This critical mode is interrogative: it locates and poses questions that are answered by the examined texts. The critic’s questions include those about the original and for the original, about the translator and for the translator, as well as about the reader and for the reader. Finally, I demonstrate cases in which a critical dialogue crystallizes around literary translations. It is a dialogue that can be shaped and interpreted by the postulated hermeneutic translation criticism.

Originally published in Polish in “Przekładaniec” vol. 42/2021. Open access for this publication has been supported by a grant from the Priority Research Area Heritage under the Strategic Programme Excellence Initiative at Jagiellonian University.

Translated by: Zofia Ziemann.

Keywords

literary translation, translation criticism, hermeneutics, dialogue

References

Apel, Friedmar. 1982. Sprachbewegung. Eine historisch-poetologische Untersuchung zum Problem des Übersetzens, Heidelberg: Carl Winter.

Assmann, Jan. 2008. “Communicative and Cultural Memory”, in: A. Erll, A. Nünning (eds.), Cultural Memory Studies. An International and Interdisciplinary Handbook, Berlin – New York: De Gruyter, pp. 109–118.

Balcerzan, Edward. 1999. “Tajemnica istnienia (sporadycznego) krytyki przekładu”, in: P. Fast (ed.), Krytyka przekładu w systemie wiedzy o literaturze, Katowice: “Śląsk”, pp. 25–37.

Bartnicki, Krzysztof. 2012. Fu Wojny albo tłumacz w wyprawie na wschód, Kraków: Korporacja Ha!art.

Benjamin, Walter. 1973. Der Begriff der Kunstkritik in der deutschen Romantik, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.

Berman, Antoine. 2000. “Translation and the Trials of the Foreign”, trans. L. Venuti, in: The Translation Studies Reader, ed. L. Venuti, London – New York: Routledge, pp. 284–297.

Bronk, Andrzej. 1988. Rozumienie – dzieje – język. Filozoficzna hermeneutyka H.-G. Gadamera, Lublin: Redakcja Wydawnictw KUL.

––– 1994. “Antyfundamentalizm hermeneutyki Hansa-Georga Gadamera”, in: S. Czerniak, J. Rolewski (eds.), Studia z filozofii niemieckiej I. Hermeneutyczna tożsamość filozofii, Toruń: UMK, pp. 155–171.

Chesterman, Andrew. 2012. “A Hermeneutic Dialogue with Radegundis Stolze”, in: L. Cecel, J. Stanley (eds.), Unterwegs zu einer hermeneutischen Übersetzungswissenschaft. Radegundis Stolze zu ihrem 60. Geburtstag, Tubingen: Narr, pp. 30–38.

De Bończa Bukowski, Piotr. 2023. Friedrich Schleiermacher’s Pathways of Translation. Issues of Language and Communication, trans. D.J. Sax, Berlin – Boston: De Gruyter.

De Bończa Bukowski, Piotr, Zarychta, Paweł. 2021. Między literaturami. Rozmowy z tłumaczami o pisarzach języka niemieckiego, Kraków: Universitas.

De Man, Paul. 1983. “Dialogue and Dialogism”, Poetics Today 4(1), pp. 99–107.

Eco, Umberto. 2013. Mouse or Rat? Translation as Negotiation, Phoenix [ebook].

Gadamer, Hans-Georg. 1977. “The Universality of the Hermeneutical Problem”, in: Philosophical Hermeneutics, trans. and ed. D.E. Linge, Berkeley – Los Angeles – London: University of California Press, pp. 3–17.

––– 1993. “Lesen ist wie Übersetzen”, in: Gesammelte Werke, Band 8: Ästhetik und Poetik I. Kunst als Aussage, Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), pp. 279–285.

––– 1997. Gadamer on Celan: “Who Am I and Who Are You?” and Other Essays, trans. and ed. R. Heinemann, B. Krajewski, New York: State University of New York Press.

––– 2006. Truth and Method, trans. W. Glen-Doepel, revised by J. Weinsheimer, D. G. Marshall, London – New York: Continuum.

––– 2007. “Text and Interpretation”, trans. R.E. Palmer, in: The Gadamer Reader: A Bouquet of the Later Writings, ed. R.E. Palmer, Evanston: Northwestern University Press, pp. 156–191.

Grądziel, Joanna. 1999. “Witold Wirpsza: Krytyka przekładu w systemie autorskich poglądów na literature”, in: P. Fast (ed.), Krytyka przekładu w systemie wiedzy o literaturze, Katowice: “Śląsk”, pp. 177–190.

Grondin, Jean. 1994. Introduction to Philosophical Hermeneutics, trans. J. Weinsheimer, New Haven – London: Yale University Press.

Grondin, Jean. 2007. Wprowadzenie do hermeneutyki filozoficznej, trans. L. Łysień, Kraków: WAM.

Heidegger, Martin. 1968. What Is Called Thinking?, trans. J. Glenn Gray, New York – Evanston – London: Harper & Row.

––– 2000. Co zwie się myśleniem?, trans. J. Mizera, Warszawa – Wrocław: PWN.

Hönig, Hans G., Kußmaul, Paul. 1999. Strategie der Übersetzung. Ein Lehr- und Arbeitsbuch, Tübingen: Narr.

House, Juliane. 2015. Translation Quality Assessment. Past and Present, London – New York: Routledge.

––– 2018. Translation. The Basics, London – New York: Routledge.

Iwaszkiewicz, Jarosław. 1977. “Gösta Berling”, in: J. Iwaszkiewicz, Szkice o literaturze skandynawskiej, Warszawa: Czytelnik, pp. 8–10.

Jankowicz, Grzegorz. 2012. “Tłumacz molekularny. Rozmowa z Krzysztofem Bartnickim”, Magazyn Literacki. Książki w Tygodniku 10, 4 March, pp. 2–4.

Jauß, Hans Robert. 1979. “Racines und Goethes Iphigenie – Mit einem Nachwort über die Partialität der rezeptionsästhetischen Methode”, in: R. Warning (ed.), Rezeptionsästhetik. Theorie und Praxis, München: Wilhelm Fink, pp. 353–400.

––– 1991. Ästhetische Erfahrung und literarische Hermeneutik, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.

Joyce, James. 2012. Finneganów tren, trans. K. Bartnicki, Kraków: Korporacja Ha!art.

Kleszcz, Leszek. 2006. “Po cóż poezja?”, in: K. Bal, J. Wilk (eds.), Gadameriana, Wrocław: ATUT, pp. 175–178.

Kuczyńska-Koschany, Katarzyna. 2007. “Andersen Iwaszkiewicza”, Odra 7–8 (lipiec– sierpień), pp. 91–96.

Kuhn, Irène. 2007. Antoine Bermans “productive” Übersetzungskritik. Entwurf und Erprobung einer Methode, Mit einer Übertragung von Bermans Pour une critique des traductions, Tübingen: Narr.

Marquard, Odo. 1981. “Frage nach der Frage, auf die die Hermeneutik die Antwort ist”, Philosophisches Jahrbuch 88 (1), pp. 1–19.

Okopień-Sławińska, Aleksandra. 1985. Semantyka wypowiedzi poetyckiej (preliminaria), Wrocław: Ossolineum.

Piecychna, Beata. 2019. Rozumienie – dzieje – dialog. O kompetencjach tłumacza w hermeneutyce filozoficznej Hansa-Georga Gadamera, wyd. II, Białystok: Prymat.

Pikulik, Lothar. 1992. Frühromantik. Epoche – Werke – Wirkung, C.H. Beck: München.

Pleger, Wolfgang H. 1988. Schleiermachers Philosophie, Berlin – New York: De Gruyter.

Reiß, Katharina. 2014. Translation Criticism – The Potentials and Limitations. Categories and Criteria for Translation Quality Assessment, trans., E. F. Rhodes, London – New York: Routledge.

Rosner, Katarzyna. 1991. Hermeneutyka jako krytyka kultury, Warszawa: PIW.

Schlegel, Friedrich. 1980. [Tieck’s “Don-Quixote”-Übersetzung], in: F. Schlegel, Werke in zwei Bänden. Erster Band, Berlin – Weimar: Aufbau-Verlag, pp. 314–316.

Schleiermacher, Friedrich, Platon. 2016. Werke I,1 (KSA IV/3), hrsg. von L. Kappel, J. Loehr unter Mitw. von M. Günther, Berlin – Boston: De Gruyter.

Scott, Clive. 2000. Translating Baudelaire, Exeter: University of Exeter Press.

Sommarkvist, Pär. [Sommer Piotr] 1998. “Nasi polscy poeci szwedzcy”, Literatura na Świecie 7–8 (324–325), pp. 396–429.

Smolka, Iwona. 2008. “O ludziach i diabłach. Z Adamem Pomorskim rozmawia Iwona Smolka”, Nowe Książki 2, pp. 4–8.

Steiner, George. 1989. Martin Heidegger. With a New Introduction, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

––– 1998. After Babel: Aspects of Language and Translation, 3rd ed., Oxford – New York: Oxford University Press.

––– 2004. “Translation as conditio humana”, in: Übersetzung / Translation / Traduction. Ein internationales Handbuch zur Übersetzungsforschung, Bd.1, eds. H. Kittel, A. P. Frank, N. Greiner et. al., Berlin – New York: De Gruyter, pp. 1–11.

Stolze, Radegundis. 1992. Hermeneutisches Übersetzen. Linguistische Kategorien des Verstehens und Formulierens beim Übersetzen, Tübingen: Narr.

––– 2003. Hermeneutik und Translation, Tübingen: Narr.

Szulakiewicz, Marek. 2004. Filozofia jako hermeneutyka, Toruń: Wydawnictwo UMK.

Veraart, Albert, Wimmer, Reiner. 2008. “Hemeneutik”, in: Enzyklopädie Philosophie und Wissenschaftstheorie, ed. J. Mittelstraß, Stuttgart – Weimar: Verlag J. B. Metzler, pp. 364–370.

Wanning, Berbeli. 2000. Friedrich Schlegel. Eine Einführung, Wiesbaden: Panorama. Wuthenow, Ralf-Rainer. 1969. Das fremde Kunstwerk. Aspekte der literarischen Übersetzung, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.

Żuławski, Jerzy. 1975. “O tłumaczeniu ksiąg, in: S. Pollak (ed.), O sztuce tłumaczenia. Księga druga, Wrocław: Ossolineum, pp. 381–387.

Information

Information: Przekładaniec, Issues in English, Special Issue 1/2023 – Translation Criticism and Its Vicinity, pp. 14 - 39

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4467/16891864ePC.23.002.17769

Article type: Original article

Titles:

Polish:

Translation Criticism as a Dialogue. A Hermeneutic Model

English:

Translation Criticism as a Dialogue. A Hermeneutic Model

Authors

Piotr de Bończa Bukowski

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9593-9413

Institute of Germanic Philology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland

Published at: 05.09.2023

Article status: Open

Licence: CC BY

Percentage share of authors:

Piotr de Bończa Bukowski (Author) - 100%

Zofia Ziemann (Translator) - 0%

Article corrections:

-

Publication languages:

English

View count: 547

Number of downloads: 561

<p> Translation Criticism as a Dialogue. A Hermeneutic Model</p>

Pobierz pełny tekst

Titles

Abstract

Keywords

References

Information

Authors