ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the use of the metaphor of translation in a range of different theoretical domains in both the humanities and the natural sciences. The chapter deals with psychoanalysis, anthropology and ethnography, postcolonial theory and history and literature. Any paradigmatic shift in a specific discursive domain not only calls for new metaphors but also radically redefines the very metaphoricity of its key terms. The dimension of Freud's theoretical legacy, however, has been largely ignored until fairly recently both in the field of psychoanalysis and translation studies. When trying to interpret and translate other cultures, ethnographers and cultural anthropologists face problems similar to those of translation scholars and professional translators. Translation, however, also plays an essential role in the passage from one period of time to another, in the preservation of different forms of cultural expression for future generations, in processes of mourning and remembrance and in the overcoming of traumatic experiences.
