The Idea of Culture and the Stakes of Translation

Stefan Nowotny

The modern idea of „culture“ rests on the assumption of some sort of expressive relationship between the groups of people to which it is applied and the symbolic forms to which it is related. It is only on the basis of this assumption that the idea of „cultural translation“ can possibly make sense. However, if processes of cultural translation are supposed to enable any kind of societal transformation, it appears necessary to examine the very kind of expressive structure that underpins the modern idea of culture. My presentation will try to do so by retracing the historical development of this idea as well as its political presuppositions and implications.

Stefan Nowotny

biography