Book Section
Libera Pisano
Wandering Words
Translation against the Myth of Origin in Fritz Mauthner’s Philosophy
In this paper, I will address the issue of translation as a critique of autochthony that emerges in the context of Fritz Mauthner’s linguistic scepticism. Translation, for Mauthner, becomes a privileged prism through which to consider identity and belonging, as well as a way of understanding uprootedness, since language is a continuous product of borrowing, bastardization, stratification, and contingency. According to Mauthner, languages are not possession, but borrowing; not purity, but contagion; not an abstract crystallization, but transit. Therefore, love of the mother tongue — the only way to conceive patriotism — is not a physical connection with the land, roots, or nation, but a refuge, an always precarious Heimat (home).
Keywords: Fritz Mauthner; Translation; Mother Tongue; Linguistic Skepticism; Autochthony
| Title |
Wandering Words
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| Subtitle |
Translation against the Myth of Origin in Fritz Mauthner’s Philosophy
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| Author(s) |
Libera Pisano
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| Identifier | |
| Description |
In this paper, I will address the issue of translation as a critique of autochthony that emerges in the context of Fritz Mauthner’s linguistic scepticism. Translation, for Mauthner, becomes a privileged prism through which to consider identity and belonging, as well as a way of understanding uprootedness, since language is a continuous product of borrowing, bastardization, stratification, and contingency. According to Mauthner, languages are not possession, but borrowing; not purity, but contagion; not an abstract crystallization, but transit. Therefore, love of the mother tongue — the only way to conceive patriotism — is not a physical connection with the land, roots, or nation, but a refuge, an always precarious Heimat (home).
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| Is Part Of | |
| Place |
Berlin
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| Publisher |
ICI Berlin Press
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| Date |
4 September 2023
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| Subject |
Fritz Mauthner
Translation
Mother Tongue
Linguistic Skepticism
Autochthony
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| Rights |
© by the author(s)
Except for images or otherwise noted, this publication is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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| Language |
en-GB
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| page start |
211
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| page end |
227
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| Source |
Untying the Mother Tongue, ed. by Antonio Castore and Federico Dal Bo, Cultural Inquiry, 26 (Berlin: ICI Berlin Press, 2023), pp. 211–27
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References
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Cite as:
Libera Pisano, ‘Wandering Words: Translation against the Myth of Origin in Fritz Mauthner’s Philosophy’, in Untying the Mother Tongue, ed. by Antonio Castore and Federico Dal Bo, Cultural Inquiry, 26 (Berlin: ICI Berlin Press, 2023), pp. 211-27 <https://doi.org/10.37050/ci-26_10>