Category: Steiner

  • Hermeneutic Motion

    Steiner proposes a fourfold method for transferring meaning suggesting that it begins with trust. In order for meaning to be transferred, we must blindly assume that there is “something” to be understood (ab initio). Steiner envisions the translation process to essentially fall beneath the parameters of communication from one person to another. Considering Steiner’s model…

  • Steiner chapter 5

    To tell the truth, this chapter I liked more, because here he talks more concrete and I mostly agree with him. He starts with a concept of trust, but didn’t get what he means by this. I agree when he says that “translator must gamble on the coherence, on the symbolic plenitude of the world”.…

  • Chapter 4

    In the chapter 4 Steiner speaks about lots of things: development of translation theories, true translation, problems of translation from on language to another, pro et contra of translation. As for me the chapter was quite hard to understand but the language is amazing. While reading it I start to ask several questions to myself:…

  • An Enquiry Concerning Human Communcation

    I couldn’t help but be reminded, midway through the reading, of David Hume, who effectively argues against the validity of inductive logic. That is to say, he is able to make the claim that all ‘proven’ science is, in fact, not really proven at all. Just because something happened the same way the first ten…

  • Kendall’s Question

    Throughout Chapter 4, Steiner comments on the challenges of translation and reaching equivalence between the natures of the two languages. He introduces the notion that by attacking translation, one vaguely attacks the essence of language itself. The author rationalizes that no two people share the exact identical meaning for the same term, yet if they…

  • Steiner 4

      Steiner’s work makes some interesting points both in favor of translation and against translation. He brings up an interesting concept relating to the life of speech or L’intraducibilita. This means that every speech-act is totally un-repeatable because time has passed. Thus, “to translate is to compound unrepeatability at second and third hand” (p.256). On…

  • Steiner Chapter 4 Thought Questions

    Lawrence Humphrey “distinguished between major and trivial tongues according to history, philosophy, and letters which they record and express” (p. 277-278). He then claims that it is “solely between major languages that the process of translation is truly meaningful” (page 278). His work was with Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. These seem like choices that highlight…

  • Steiner Chapter 4 The History of Translation

    Steiner, Chapter 4 Claims of Theory Periods in translation from classical times until 18th century – translation more a version in a new language and not a word for word translation but rather what is the gist of something and then re-express it in one’s own language. What are the assumptions behind such a theory…

  • Steiner Chapter 4 Questions from your predecessors

     On one hand, I can potentially see the demise of words “when words shake off ‘the burden of having to mean’ and will be only themselves, blank and replete as stone.” On the other hand, these blank words can determine our thoughts as we fill in our own meanings around these words.  Realistically speaking, can…