part vii • legal history and legal science • lena foljanty One of these newheuristic means is the concept of ‘translation’. The concept of translation invites us to reflect on the functioning of intercultural exchange and entanglements on the one hand and on comparison on the other. When we think about translation, we usually think about the translation of texts andwords.However, the term ‘translation’ offers more possibilities. Used as a metaphor, it offers fruitful perspectives on intercultural exchange. Using ‘translation’ in a metaphorical way means not only looking at texts as media for the exchange of ideas, but also seeing intercultural exchange and encounter in a broader sense as a process of translation. The object of translation is then not only texts, but also ideas and practices; such a translation can take place by transferring cultural meaning temporally or geographically, or between different social groups. What does such a broad understanding of ‘translation’ imply? First, it makes us aware that the adoption of foreign ideas or practices is an active process. Translating always requires as a first step that one interpret the foreign. This interpretation depends on the translator’s perspective – on the perception she has of the foreign culture – as often there are decisions to be made between different possibilities of interpretation. In the next step, adequate formulations must be found in the new context and decisions must be made here as well. Second, the concept of translation makes us aware that the adoption of foreign ideas and practices always creates something new. The translator must find expressions for the foreign ideas which will be understandable in the new context. And even if the translator tries to be as faithful as possible to the original, the functions and nuances of a text will be slightly different in the new language and context. Certain concepts verge on the untranslatable. Michael Stolleis gives a good example of this when pointing out how difficult it is to find a suitable English translation for his field of expertise, Wissenschaftsgeschichte des öffentlichen Rechts. Traduttore traditore as the Italian saying goes. I would add that ‘betrayal’ is even inevitable.4 4 For the impossibility of a faithful translation, see Simone Glanert & Pierre Legrand, ‘For358 Entanglements as translation processes
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