Language Imperialism & The End of Translation

by Thorsten J. Pattberg

Imperialism, according to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, is "the extension or imposition of power, authority, or influence" over another nation. Consequently, linguistic imperialism is the extension or imposition of one’s own language over another’s. Martin Luther's Bible translation is a good example, Georg Hegel's German Die Philosophie der Weltgeschichte (1830) is another; the former made the Bible German, the latter made world history German. Language imperialism is more surgical than It is the translation of foreign key terminologies into familiar vocabulary of one’s own language tradition in order to claim deutungshoheit, to diminish another culture’s originality, or to pretend to have full comprehension of a foreign topic by simply switching into one’s own lingua. So even if a nation is not strong enough to impose its own language over another’s, like Germany could never conquer the Chinese people, it could always try to steal important cultural property by giving it German names.

72 pages, Paperback

First published December 18, 2014

About the author

Dr. Thorsten J. Pattberg (裴德思 Pei Desi) is a German philosopher and cultural critic. He has written and published extensively about Global language, the Competition for terminologies, and the End of translation. He's the author of 'The East-West Dichotomy', 'Shengren', and 'Knowledge is a Polyglot'.

Reviews

[Sarah B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brazen manifesto about the elimination of translations and the founding of a more inclusive global language with hundreds of thousands of old and new Asian loanwords. It’s a great vision, although computer software and instant translation programs are still lagging behind in development, I feel. Nevertheless, the inequality among the world‘s languages is appalling, discriminating and unethical. Think about cultural and linguistic property rights.

[Manila Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Translation programs will make language learning obsolete. Translations will be provided instantly.

[LIU Dongfan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not sure if Confucianism can have its revival and impact, judging from the recent US/Western crackdown in the Confucius Institutes and the global demonization of everything Chinese. On the Chinese words and concepts - they need more exposure in the West for sure, but maybe not in this century of total Westernization. China’s cultural revival is still a distant dream of some eccentric sinophiles.

[Sarah B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The end of translation is meant as the liberation of foreign loanwords. Thus more power to the originality of non-Western cultures and people.