Lost in Translation: Philosophy Forums

Lost in Translation

tomv
Bee Hive Resident

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Joined: Mar 26, 2008
Location: Perth, Western Australia
Total Topics: 5
Total Posts: 19

Posted 03/26/08 - 04:50 AM: Subject: Lost in Translation	#1
I am someone who can speak German, English, Spanish and Japanese. I have read many texts in many languages and I so often come across dilemmas in translation. In so many instances (I often try to read originals first if I can), a translation never truly encapsulates the emotion, the feeling of the original. And this is especially true with German writers. Every time I read a philosophical text in German, it feels like it has more powerful messages than its English counterpart. And in that sense, readers of translations are really missing out on a lot from the originals. I would like to know if others have come across the same problem, or their thoughts on the issue. Thank you.
_____________________ "The door is open, the road transformed. The exit code to civilisation is hacked beyond despair, chased by the moon toward the freeing sun, on our journey to light. This is an open plea to the beautiful insanity of your hearts. It is time to consummate the kiss of oblivion into the obsidian of love!" - Serj Tankian

The_Rational_Animal
Übermensch

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Joined: Mar 21, 2008
Location: München, Germany
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Total Posts: 137

Posted 03/28/08 - 01:39 PM:	#2
I completely agree; the differences I notice are like night and day. I read Nietzsche and Kant in high school when I lived in the states. I became really proficient in German during my undergrad years and read Nietzsche and Kant again during my post-grad work. It was like experiencing an entirely new dimension of philosophy and thought. The messages of Nietzsche in German are so vibrant and revolutionary; their English translations are relatively stale. Kant's English translations are somewhat difficult to read and often don't mean much in the way of metaphor and imagination. But in German, they can be interpreted vastly differently in some cases. But I've only really felt the need to learn German to read real philosophy because Germany has had the greatest legacy of philosophy in the modern era.
_____________________ "Whenever you think you are facing a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong." ~Ayn Rand

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