Translating Worlds: The Epistemological Space of Translation (Special Issues in Ethnographic Theory) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0986132519 ISBN 13: 9780986132513

Publisher: HAU, 2015

Synopsis

Set against the backdrop of anthropology’s recent focus on various “turns” (whether ontological, ethical, or otherwise), this pathbreaking volume returns to the question of knowledge and the role of translation as a theoretical and ethnographic guide for twenty-first century anthropology, gathering together contributions from leading thinkers in the field.

Since Ferdinand de Saussure and Franz Boas, languages have been seen as systems whose differences make precise translation nearly impossible. And still others have viewed translation between languages as principally indeterminate. The contributors here argue that the challenge posed by the constant confrontation between incommensurable worlds and systems may be the most fertile ground for state-of-the-art ethnographic theory and practice. Ranging from tourism in New Guinea to shamanism in the Amazon to the globally ubiquitous restaurant menu, the contributors mix philosophy and ethnography to redefine translation not only as a key technique for understanding ethnography but as a larger principle in epistemology.  

About this title

About the Authors

Carlo Severi is professor at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales and director of research at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique. 

William F. Hanks is associate professor of anthropology, linguistics, and social sciences at the University of Chicago. He is the coeditor of Word and Image in Mayan Culture.

Edition details

• Publisher: HAU
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0986132519
• ISBN 13: 9780986132513
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 338
• Editor: Severi Carlo, Hanks William F.