On cosmopolitan translation and how worldviews might change
Date
2021
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Department of General Linguistics, Stellenbosch University
Abstract
The theorisation of cosmopolitanism can be dated from Kant’s “right to hospitality”, where the
reciprocal welcoming of foreigners is supposed to lead to universal understanding. Differences
in languages and religions are recognised as obstacles in the way to that ideal, yet Kant has little
to say about how to get around their differences – translation is strangely absent. A role for
translation in cosmopolitanism nevertheless appears in the discourses that assume an age of
effective economic globalisation. The cosmopolitanisms elaborated by Ulrich Beck
(2004/2006) and Gerard Delanty (2009), among many others, adopt a sense of cultural
translation that requires no anterior text, no language barrier, and thus no mediator: the
cosmopolitan becomes an intercultural space where relations transform subjects. Those views
may be tested on the narratives of three Afrikaans-speaking intellectuals who recount how they
grew up under Apartheid and progressively dissented from totalitarian discourse. The concepts
of cosmopolitan translation are found to explain some of the narratives involved, particularly
when the self is seen through the eyes of the other, yet strong social and national frames are
still in force, boycotts counter hospitality and reinforce national frames, and language
translation is found to be relatively unimportant in a milieu of polyglots.
Description
CITATION: Pym, A. 2021. On cosmopolitan translation and how worldviews might change. Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus, 61:33-48, doi:10.5842/61-0-918.
The original publication is available at https://spilplus.journals.ac.za
The original publication is available at https://spilplus.journals.ac.za
Keywords
Translation and interpretation
Citation
Pym, A. 2021. On cosmopolitan translation and how worldviews might change. Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus, 61:33-48, doi:10.5842/61-0-918.