1: Another absurd translation
This is another in a seemingly unending series of 'literalist' translations of philosophical prose works. The translation is of course hopeless. This technique never works and cannot work. Each occurrence of a German word is treated the same, regardless of context. It doesn't work for Plato, it doesn't work for Kant, and it certainly doesn't work for Nietzsche. See my reviews of Guyer-Wood's translation of Kant's first critique, and my review of Thomas G. West's 'translations' of Greek texts. The same criticisms apply here. It is fascinating that the editors mention Guyer and Wood approvingly in their preface. How telling!
The editorial reviewer, who stated "The translation itself strikes an intelligent balance between fidelity to the German and readability in English" inadvertently points out the absurdity of this approach. Translation does not need to be 'balanced', ever. There is no excuse for rigid, invariant translation of individual words, because every instance of usage is unique. Its usage in the specific context is what matters.
|
