Translation as Journey: a Hermeneutical & Dialectical Approach to Translation

Linguistic theorists consider translation as a container conveying concepts and ideas. On the other hand, culturalists do not recognize translation as a “conveyor” or a “pure circuit”, but rather think of it as a “communication bridge” between various linguo-cultural semiosphere. Meanwhile, the hermeneutic approach based upon ideological & dialectical opinions _ and principally those relying on philosophical stances of George Steiner _ interprets translation not as a container or as a bridge, but as a journey from "self" to "other"; A journey in which the translator-traveler leaves her linguo-cultural semiosphere during the four stages of "submission", "aggression", "incorporation" and "restitution" to get back _ once totally metamorphosed and once it deems “other”_ to its primary semiosphere.This paper aims to investigate the dialectical confrontation of "I" or "self" with "other" in the translator-traveler trajectory and seeks to take note of the gradual rooting of colonialist ideas in hermeneutic approaches to translation. The question that arises is how ontological transformation occurs throughout this cognitive journey and how "self" and "the other" reach reconciliation and theoretical unity after confronting each other? It seems that the ontological transformation is achieved once "self" becomes "not-self" and the "other" turns into "not-other" reaching somewhere the zero point of balance. This is exactly where the traveler-translator brings a new epistemological experience to the fore.