The Predicament of Ideas in Culture: Translation and Historiography
Author(s)
Howland, Douglas
Abstract
Rather than a simple transfer of words or texts from one language to another, on the model of the bilingual dictionary, translation has become understood as a translingual act of transcoding cultural material–a complex act of communication. Much recent work on translation in history grows out of interest in the effects of European colonialism, especially within Asian studies, where interest has been driven by the contrast between the experiences of China and Japan, which were never formally colonized, and the alternative examples of peoples without strong, centralized states–those of the Indian subcontinent and the Tagalog in the Philippines–who were colonized by European powers. This essay reviews several books published in recent years, one group of which share the general interpretation that colonial powers forced their subjects to “translate” their local language, sociality, or culture into the terms of the dominant colonial power. The other books under review here are more concerned with the fact of different languages, cultures, or practices and the work of “translating” between the two–particularly the efforts of indigenous agents to introduce European ideas and institutions to their respective peoples.
