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PHILOSOPHIZING IN TRANSLATION:

TRANSLATION AS A PHILOSOPHICAL PRACTICE

Jelle Huisman1

Abstract: This paper discusses an example of Philosophy on the Way between Languages in

which translation is explicitly used as part of the process of doing philosophy! "t shows that#

rather than feeling impo$erished by being forced to use a foreign language# the multiplicity of

languages a$ailable can be used to enrich our philosophi%ing!

Key Words:Translation# "mplicit&'xplicit# intricacy# explication# process

Introduction

"n this paper " present some personal reflections on the relation between doing philosophy and

li$ing in translation!(" usually say that "m bi)lingual and tri)cultural! "m *utch# " grew up in

The +etherlands and spent the last fi$e years in the 'nglish spea,ing world# - years in

'ngland and ( years in .anada!

Whether we li,e it or not# 'nglish is our lingua franca! /0nd isnt it curious that we use a

term from the pre$ious lingua francato say so2 3or people who were not born in an 'nglish

spea,ing en$ironment this situation is a challenge! We can raise a number of critical

4uestions# e!g! whether this not necessarily leads to ine4uality of access for some# namely for

those who were not born in 'nglish spea,ing countries or# whether it lowers the bar for

others# namely those who were born in the 'nglish spea,ing world# and ha$e therefore

immediate and seemingly effortless access to so many original wor,s and translations))thus

missing out on a part of the struggle with texts and ideas 5n the other hand# there are also

positi$e aspects! To use myself as an example# "m *utch and the only foreign language "

,now well is 'nglish! 6ometimes " regret not ,nowing 3rench or 7erman well enough# but

this is the situation and "$e learned to li$e with it! "t is precisely because of the existence of

'nglish as a lingua francathat " got access to non)*utch philosophers and decided to study

1 "ndependent researcher in philosophy and translation studies! 'mail: 8elle98hnet!nl

( 0ll footnotes are in my 0 thesis ;Translations of the "mplicit# tracing how language wor,s beyond 7endlinand *errida< /".6# Toronto /.anada2 (=1(2 0$ailable on re4uest!

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philosophy# in .anada! "t is because of the globali%ation of 'nglish that " am here today# in

adrid))while " dont spea, a word of 6panish# and yet# we are able to interact and exchange

ideas! The existence of a lingua francaopens new worlds# but it comes at a price! '!g! in The

+etherlands there is a lot of pressure on academics to teach and write in 'nglish /perhaps

more so than here because *utch doesnt ha$e as many spea,ers as 6panish!2 This often leads

to the loss of the ability to express oneself at the same le$el of technical nuance in *utch as

one can in 'nglish! " disco$ered that " couldnt explain my research to *utch family members

simply because " dont ha$e *utch technical terms for what " need to say! 5n the other hand#

because 'nglish is not my nati$e language# "m acutely aware of the fact that " miss certain

opportunities to spea, with greater precision# that " lac, access to all the expressi$e power of

the language! 6ometimes " notice that "m writing in a sort of lifeless 8argon which is not plain

wrong# it might in fact do a reasonably good 8ob of con$eying an idea# but it is not

empowered# not spirited! " would li,e to wor, in *utch but " dont ha$e the terminology for

doing so# and to get a wider hearing " need to wor, in 'nglish anyways! 6o as a nati$e

spea,er of a relati$ely small 'uropean language "m drawn into the global lingua francaand

as a result of that "m not 4uite at home in either of my languages! 0s an exile in both " ha$e

to translate# and re)translate both myself and the texts "m reading!

While we could as, a number of critical 4uestions about the general situation# " would li,e to

focus on ways in which the multilingual situation can be used in a positi$e manner to

empower the philosopher! >eing forced into a bilingual mode of operation# a philosopher who

wor,s in a foreign language can fall bac, on the home language to bypass certain limitations

of the lingua franca.

Implicit and explicit

"n my current research " wor, with two philosophers who help me thin, about the explicit and

implicit components of meaning: Jac4ues *errida and 'ugene 7endlin! *errida is well),nown

and " dont need to go into details about him here! 7endlin is an 0merican philosopher and

psychologist with an 0ustrian bac,ground! His psychological research led him to reflect

philosophically on the implicit! His philosophical wor, shows a sensiti$ity to 4uestions

which one might call 'uropean# while his emphasis on situations# practice# action# feedbac,#

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transitions# and progressions is $ery +orth 0merican! " thin, that " find some commonalities#

and also some ma8or differences# between 7endlins pro8ect and what *errida does! The

rele$ance for translation is that it almost can act as a test case for a description of the process

of explication# the process of ma,ing a part of the implicit meanings explicit! This process# a

%ig%agging between implicit and explicit# between the ,nown and un,nown# has some

significant parallels with the process of translation!

" need to say a bit more about 7endlin! "n his wor, he see,s to directly access li$ed

experience and bring it to symboli%ation! The embodied experience is an open and felt

intricacy# in opposition to the $iew of experience as a representation of a closed world# of

which the main ingredient is primarily cogniti$e! +ot that experience is not also cogniti$e# but

that is not all there is to it! "t is more complex# more nuanced# it is an ;intricacy!< The intricate

life)interactions# interactions between body and en$ironment# are irreducible to static patterns!

0t e$ery moment in the responsi$e reality certain implicit elements can be brought to the

surface# can be made explicit! 5b$iously# once an implicit element is explicated# a new

intricate configuration of explicit and implicit emerges# so the cycle can begin again! 0 ,ey

metaphor for this process of explication is to carry thought forward! 5ne of the real

contributions of 7endlin is that he de$elops a $ery careful and precise way of letting the

implicit emerge and analy%ing how that happens! He de$elops techni4ues li,e focusing and

thin,ing at the edge with which he shows how to# well# thin, at the edge! This close

reading of what happens at the edge of thin,ing is one fruitful area of o$erlap with *errida! "t

is also in this area that " see the rele$ance of his pro8ect for thin,ing about and with and in

translation! 6o# how does one philosophi%e in translation