Schleiermacher and Deutscher (Daniel)

I found Schleiermacher's explanation of the two methods of translating a text to be very fascinating. When comparing "bringing the reader to the author" and "bringing the author to the reader," he describes "bringing the reader to the author" as the translator attempting to enter into the author's mindset, understanding the historical and cultural context in which the text was written. Conversely, "bringing the author to the reader" seems to be where the translator acknowledges the reader's own knowledge and works to connect the author's ideas with the reader's own context and experiences. I believe that as a translator, you must work diligently to understand your personal approach (what strategy you naturally favor) and see in what ways you can find a middle ground between these two approaches if necessary.

I found the article by Deutscher to cover so many interesting aspects of language that I had never even considered. In particular, I found the analysis of the linguistic influence on spatial perception to be extremely eye-opening, as he illustrated how speakers of different languages navigate and remember space based on the particular language that they speak. He provided an example from the Guugu Yimithirr language, which revealed that this language in particular does not use words like “in front of” or “behind” to describe the position of objects. The language instead utilizes geographic coordinates, which is a concept that I had never even considered to be a real thing.