Translation Discourse Analysis and Hermeneutics

2006 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 17520228
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Literatures/Literary theories in other countries and areas
• Research Institution: Nagoya University
• Principal Investigator: YOSHIMURA Masakazu Nagoya University, Graduate School of Languages and Cultures, Professor, 大学院国際言語文化研究科, 教授 (10033408)
• Project Period (FY): 2005 – 2006
• Keywords: translation theory / meta-language / cultural studies / translation studies / translatability

Research Abstract

The purpose of this project, Translation Discourse Analysis and Hermeneutics, is to research into (1) the conventional translation theory based on the equivalence of meaning, the main proponents of which were Eugene Nida and George Mounin, (2) the translation studies by James Holmes and Gideon Toury, who tried to change the conventional translation theory into the systematic, interdisciplinary study, (3) the translation theory of the post-structuralism, which destabilized and deconstructed the meanings of source texts by way of referring to the meta-language of target texts, (4) the Jewish Kabbalistic hermeneutics, which examined the theological aspect of translation theory. By studying these four aspects of translation theory, I have concluded that the translation studies, as they completely changed the methodology after 1970s, would be developed as one of the most promising interdisciplinary disciplines, including linguistics, comparative literature, cultural studies, philosophy, history, and theology.