Translation, Identity and Identification: Thoughts on the Function of Selective Translation(s) of Language and Symbols in Distinctive Cultural Systems

The main goal of this paper is to show how the way German culture shaped itself through translation of foreign cultural elements can be seen as a paradigm for identity forming in general when one considers the aspects of imitation and re-accentuation of foreign cultural elements as a vital factor in inter-cultural communication in  which translation of one system’s language into the language of another one plays an important role in the interactive process of understanding each other but, at the same time, being able to draw a distinction between one’s own cultural system and the foreign one(s). Taking the examples of Johann Gottlieb Fichte’s plan to establish a German cultural system based on a shared German language, this paper will go on to examine translation processes, such as Schleiermacher’s translation of Plato into German and Heidegger’s translation of Plato into Heideggerian terminology in order to show certain mechanisms in translation that introduce foreign cultural elements into a cultural system by altering them linguistically. Johann Fischart’s Rabelais translation will be  looked at to show how a French text is turned into a uniquely self-referential German text that changes everything French into German cultural symbols to radically move away from the foreign original. Surprisingly the introduction of foreign elements into a cultural system increases the likelihood to establish a cultural identity    by increasing the self-referentiality and reflexivity of the cultural system through increasing the number of  cultural symbols that the system can refer to. Moreover, this self-refernetiality is beneficial to the stability of the system.