I convey blogged hither before nearly seeing my comparative payoff as a translator of sorts. This stems from considering myself fully bilingual (Arabic together with English), bicultural (Arab-Muslim together with American-Westerner), biliterate (social sciences together with humanities), together with thus on. I convey also blogged nearly my before frustration that potential publishers of what I had considered the culmination of all my years of report had no involvement inward (and perhaps or thus alert at) my chosen dependent of inquiry: The contemporary forms of Muslim Liberation Theology (the working championship of my volume was Islam together with The Arduous Quest for Justice, together with I had proposed to explicate the good, bad, together with ugly manifestations of that Muslim liberation theology). The mass of the envisioned volume would convey been nearly how early on Muslim idea integrated ancient philosophy inside its religious language, together with helped to shape medieval Western philosophy, together with and thus I would piece of work through the myriad ways inward which modern Muslims convey and/or could integrate post-medieval philosophy inward their worldview, conduct, together with society. Given the reactions of colleagues together with potential publishers, together with upon reflection on how many inward my local community inward Houston convey reacted to the watered-down versions of my worldview as expressed inward sermons together with conversation, I convey aborted that delusional book/lifetime project.
Earlier this week, a colleague who teaches Philosophy forwarded the link to an article nearly a "Philosophy inward Plain Arabic" maiden at my alma mater (the American University inward Cairo, where I had the accolade to serve briefly as provost during academic yr 2014-15). My commencement reaction was somewhat negative, peculiarly toward the motivation of endowing philosophy amongst greater prestige inward Egyptian society, which seemed to me antithetical to why 1 should study/apply philosophical thinking. My instant reaction, upon reflection, was that translation is ever good, but that past times reaching out to academy students, the maiden aims to rebuild a shaky construction starting on the 15th flooring (a metaphor borrowed from the slowly Morris Kline's give-and-take of foundations of mathematics inward his beautiful volume Mathematics: The Loss of Certainty). The occupation inward Egypt, together with the Arab together with Muslim Worlds to a greater extent than generally, starts inward early on pedagogy together with over-specialization at an early on historic menstruum (which is non coincidental; the social contract betwixt autocratic regimes together with autocratic clergy made both parties antagonistic to gratis thought). I suggested that if I had known those active inward this initiative, I would convey suggested reaching out to midpoint together with high schoolhouse students amongst a watered-down version of their Philosophical Thinking course at AUC, which is travel of the essence curriculum for their undergraduates, together with but partnering amongst the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy projection for translation of Encyclopedia entries together with selected references inward its bibliographies for the create goodness of academy students of Philosophy who are studying it inward Arabic.
I woke upward this forenoon thinking that the chore is much to a greater extent than daunting. I idea dorsum to my teenage involvement inward Philosophy. My slowly manful mortal bring upward gave me books past times the slowly Zaki Naguib Mahmoud (to whom I wrote letters that went unanswered, understandably) together with Murad Wahba (whom he had met inward mortal on multiple occasions). I also read translations of ancient Greek philosophers together with Standard Arabic books past times Muslim philosophers who built on that early on thought, e.g. Al-Kindi, Al-Farabi, Ibn Sina, together with thus on, to Ibn Rushd. This literature all made feel whether it was written inward or translated to Arabic. However, when I tried to read translations of afterwards philosophical plant (specifically, Descartes, Spinoza, Kant, Hegel, together with Nietzsche) the Standard Arabic translations made real petty sense.
Then, I reflected on an Standard Arabic volume that I had read concluding month, which was an Standard Arabic translation of the author's dissertation on Hegel together with Al-Farabi's Philosophical Sufism. The volume made sense, but exclusively past times translating into English linguistic communication inward my head. Al-Farabi had made feel inward Arabic, when I read him to a greater extent than than twoscore years ago, but the translated Hegel didn't until I read him afterwards inward English, together with he made fifty-fifty to a greater extent than feel when I read him afterwards however after my competence inward the latter had improved to equal my competence inward Arabic. By that time, I could empathize Al-Ghazali's explanation together with afterwards repudiation of Greek together with Standard Arabic Philosophy differently: He, together with afterwards Ibn Rushd, who could play both games as well, illustrated the gulf that was emerging betwixt their philosophical together with religious thinking, together with tried to span it inward dissimilar ways. I felt that gulf myself inward the ensuing decades of my life, together with worked hard to span it to my satisfaction. Once I felt, perchance inward error, that I had achieved the latter goal, I wanted to portion my synthetic together with analytical thoughts past times writing the volume that I described above.
This is all to tell the following: Translation is non a unproblematic linguistic exercise. To interpret poesy well, 1 must hold out a proficient poet oneself. We know that! Likewise, to interpret philosophy well, 1 must hold out a proficient philosopher oneself (this is why Nietzsche, for example, never made feel to me until I read Kufmann's translation). Contemporary Economics, as nosotros know, emerged from Moral Philosophy, but took a issue of bad turns, inward my opinion, peculiarly since the mid twentieth century. To write a proficient volume on Economics, peculiarly inward relation to a travel of the basis inward which neither evolution of the champaign of report nor developments of its antecedent Philosophy were native, 1 needs to hold out good versed inward multiple "languages," which are ever important amongst concepts together with connotations that are accumulated amongst the evolution of human thought. This is why I said that translation is non a simple linguistic exercise. In the instance of Modern Philosophy inward relation to Arabic, a proficient translator must simultaneously transform the linguistic communication into which she or he is translating. This is a chore fifty-fifty beyond my delusional project, which was to interpret into English linguistic communication using conceptions that are already understood inward that language. I wishing proficient luck to those who intend that they tin interpret into Arabic, but intend that it may hold out best to learn a Western language, which would convey to include reading literature together with philosophy inward that language, spell aiming to prepare an actual "Philosophy inward Arabic," inward travel past times teaching the plant of contemporary Arab philosophers (a duet of whom I named above), but to a greater extent than importantly past times encouraging philosophical thinking inward Arabic. This is, indeed, the instant together with ultimate destination stated on the AUC website: "demonstrating the relevance of philosophy together with philosophical methodologies to matters of both individual involvement together with world concern."
I promise that they recognize how hard this volition hold out to do well. The "language" barrier is much more multidimensional than the uninitiated may think.
Earlier this week, a colleague who teaches Philosophy forwarded the link to an article nearly a "Philosophy inward Plain Arabic" maiden at my alma mater (the American University inward Cairo, where I had the accolade to serve briefly as provost during academic yr 2014-15). My commencement reaction was somewhat negative, peculiarly toward the motivation of endowing philosophy amongst greater prestige inward Egyptian society, which seemed to me antithetical to why 1 should study/apply philosophical thinking. My instant reaction, upon reflection, was that translation is ever good, but that past times reaching out to academy students, the maiden aims to rebuild a shaky construction starting on the 15th flooring (a metaphor borrowed from the slowly Morris Kline's give-and-take of foundations of mathematics inward his beautiful volume Mathematics: The Loss of Certainty). The occupation inward Egypt, together with the Arab together with Muslim Worlds to a greater extent than generally, starts inward early on pedagogy together with over-specialization at an early on historic menstruum (which is non coincidental; the social contract betwixt autocratic regimes together with autocratic clergy made both parties antagonistic to gratis thought). I suggested that if I had known those active inward this initiative, I would convey suggested reaching out to midpoint together with high schoolhouse students amongst a watered-down version of their Philosophical Thinking course at AUC, which is travel of the essence curriculum for their undergraduates, together with but partnering amongst the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy projection for translation of Encyclopedia entries together with selected references inward its bibliographies for the create goodness of academy students of Philosophy who are studying it inward Arabic.
I woke upward this forenoon thinking that the chore is much to a greater extent than daunting. I idea dorsum to my teenage involvement inward Philosophy. My slowly manful mortal bring upward gave me books past times the slowly Zaki Naguib Mahmoud (to whom I wrote letters that went unanswered, understandably) together with Murad Wahba (whom he had met inward mortal on multiple occasions). I also read translations of ancient Greek philosophers together with Standard Arabic books past times Muslim philosophers who built on that early on thought, e.g. Al-Kindi, Al-Farabi, Ibn Sina, together with thus on, to Ibn Rushd. This literature all made feel whether it was written inward or translated to Arabic. However, when I tried to read translations of afterwards philosophical plant (specifically, Descartes, Spinoza, Kant, Hegel, together with Nietzsche) the Standard Arabic translations made real petty sense.
Then, I reflected on an Standard Arabic volume that I had read concluding month, which was an Standard Arabic translation of the author's dissertation on Hegel together with Al-Farabi's Philosophical Sufism. The volume made sense, but exclusively past times translating into English linguistic communication inward my head. Al-Farabi had made feel inward Arabic, when I read him to a greater extent than than twoscore years ago, but the translated Hegel didn't until I read him afterwards inward English, together with he made fifty-fifty to a greater extent than feel when I read him afterwards however after my competence inward the latter had improved to equal my competence inward Arabic. By that time, I could empathize Al-Ghazali's explanation together with afterwards repudiation of Greek together with Standard Arabic Philosophy differently: He, together with afterwards Ibn Rushd, who could play both games as well, illustrated the gulf that was emerging betwixt their philosophical together with religious thinking, together with tried to span it inward dissimilar ways. I felt that gulf myself inward the ensuing decades of my life, together with worked hard to span it to my satisfaction. Once I felt, perchance inward error, that I had achieved the latter goal, I wanted to portion my synthetic together with analytical thoughts past times writing the volume that I described above.
This is all to tell the following: Translation is non a unproblematic linguistic exercise. To interpret poesy well, 1 must hold out a proficient poet oneself. We know that! Likewise, to interpret philosophy well, 1 must hold out a proficient philosopher oneself (this is why Nietzsche, for example, never made feel to me until I read Kufmann's translation). Contemporary Economics, as nosotros know, emerged from Moral Philosophy, but took a issue of bad turns, inward my opinion, peculiarly since the mid twentieth century. To write a proficient volume on Economics, peculiarly inward relation to a travel of the basis inward which neither evolution of the champaign of report nor developments of its antecedent Philosophy were native, 1 needs to hold out good versed inward multiple "languages," which are ever important amongst concepts together with connotations that are accumulated amongst the evolution of human thought. This is why I said that translation is non a simple linguistic exercise. In the instance of Modern Philosophy inward relation to Arabic, a proficient translator must simultaneously transform the linguistic communication into which she or he is translating. This is a chore fifty-fifty beyond my delusional project, which was to interpret into English linguistic communication using conceptions that are already understood inward that language. I wishing proficient luck to those who intend that they tin interpret into Arabic, but intend that it may hold out best to learn a Western language, which would convey to include reading literature together with philosophy inward that language, spell aiming to prepare an actual "Philosophy inward Arabic," inward travel past times teaching the plant of contemporary Arab philosophers (a duet of whom I named above), but to a greater extent than importantly past times encouraging philosophical thinking inward Arabic. This is, indeed, the instant together with ultimate destination stated on the AUC website: "demonstrating the relevance of philosophy together with philosophical methodologies to matters of both individual involvement together with world concern."
I promise that they recognize how hard this volition hold out to do well. The "language" barrier is much more multidimensional than the uninitiated may think.
Comments
Post a Comment