The presence of alterity in the acts of translating and interpreting

Abstract

The following paper studies the hermeneutic work from the perspective of the act of translating by exposing the appearance of alterity as mediating between a text of any kind and the understanding and interpretation done by its translator and the readers. The key element of the paper will be the concept exposed by Schleirmacher in his work On the different Methods of Translating. It also explores Umberto Eco’s Saying Almost the Same Thing: Experiences in translation in order to add more elements to the hermeneutics which lay on translation. After exploring these two different perspectives, it will establish whether stating that alterity appears between hermeneutics and tradition is precise or not.