Cognition and Comprehension in Translational Hermeneutics

The fundamental aim of translation studies in general is to better understand the practice of translation. Insofar as hermeneutics can be regarded as an approach to understanding the nature of understanding itself (and in this it finds alliances with phenomenology), the task of this volume is to demonstrate that hermeneutics can accordingly provide a means to better apprehend the subtle complexities of translation. At issue are translators’myriad decisions, reactions, negotiations and compromises as they practice their craft. At stake is translation knowledge – what translators must know, how they know what they know, and how such savoir faire is deployed in specific instances of translation. Essays in this volume address the somatic and the cognitive, questions of experience and expertise, empirical practice, methodological protocols and suitable philosophical models in order to gain better insight into the challenging task of the translator. An additional highlight of this volume is the sustained assessment of Fritz Paepcke, one of the pioneers of what, today, is called translational hermeneutics, Paepcke being a scholar who proposed new ways to consider the delicate, but necessary negotiation between translation theory and translation practice.