On the shoulders of Ludwik Fleck?: On the bilingual philosophical legacy of Ludwik Fleck and its Polish, German and English translations
- Autores: Paweł Jarnicki
- Localización: The Translator: studies in intercultural communication, ISSN 1355-6509, Vol. 22, Nº. 3, 2016, págs. 271-286
- Idioma: inglés
- Enlaces
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Resumen
This article discusses the language problems resulting from translations of the bilingual philosophical legacy of Ludwik Fleck (1896–1961). Since Fleck wrote in both Polish and German, some specific problems can be encountered which no single source can resolve, as both the Polish and German texts are of equal value and it is impossible to say whether his theory was formulated in one of these languages first. To solve this problem, this article suggests that we assume that the level of equivalency of the original sources is at the level of concepts. The case of ‘communication’ is analysed in detail in accordance with the frequency of certain expressions and the context behind them. Fleck used derivatives of ‘communication’ in Polish only twice, yet in English translations there are 51 uses of it. Most of the uses in the English translations come from the Polish ‘porozumieć’ and the German ‘Verkehr’ – expressions that have different meanings. The conclusion to this article argues that all of the translations should be revised. Some recommendations are formulated, especially in regard to the krążenie myśli/Denkverkehr/‘circulation of thought’ expressions that differ in lexical meaning but denote the same concept devised by Fleck.
