HERMENEUTIC APPROACH TO THE HISTORY, THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TRANSLATION

Abstract

This article explores translation as a fundamentally hermeneutic act, rather than a purely technical or linguistic operation. Drawing on philosophical and literary traditions from antiquity to the twentieth century, the study argues that translation is best understood as a form of situated interpretation – one that involves dialogical engagement, historical consciousness, and ethical responsibility. Beginning with the foundational reflections of Cicero, Horace, and Saint Jerome, the article traces the evolution of translation theory through the German Romantics, especially in the writings of Friedrich Schleiermacher and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who conceptualised translation as a creative, culturally embedded, and historically variable act. Building on this lineage, the study turns to modern hermeneutic philosophers – particularly Martin Heidegger, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Walter Benjamin, and George Steiner – whose contributions reframe translation as a recursive process of meaning-making, shaped by the translator’s own preconceptions, historical location, and interpretive horizon. The article closely examines the implications of such concepts as the hermeneutic circle, the fusion of horizons, and the fourfold hermeneutic motion, arguing that these models offer a more comprehensive and humanistic approach to translation than dominant linguistic or functionalist paradigms. Special attention is paid to Walter Benjamin’s vision of translation as the revelation of pure language, Schleiermacher’s preference for foreignization over domestication, and Steiner’s model of translation as an ethical encounter. The article critiques the reduction of translation to equivalence-based systems and instead proposes an understanding of the translator as a reflective, culturally literate subject who negotiates meaning across temporal and linguistic divides. By highlighting the interpretive agency of the translator and the epistemological openness of the translation act, the study advances a model that is at once historically grounded, philosophically informed, and pedagogically relevant. Ultimately, this hermeneutic approach encourages a rethinking of translator education, emphasizing critical thinking, cultural sensitivity, and the integration of philosophical reflection into translator training. It offers a compelling alternative to technocratic and instrumental conceptions of translation by restoring its complexity as a creative, ethical, and dialogical act of understanding. As globalisation and crosscultural communication continue to accelerate, the relevance of such an approach grows ever more significant, calling for translation theorists and practitioners alike to engage more deeply with the philosophical foundations of their discipline.