Translation collective, translation styles

On the experience of translating Ludwik Fleck into Brazilian Portuguese

Abstract

In this contribution I intend to describe the experience of translating Fleck’s Entstehung und Entwicklung einer wissenschaftlichen Tatsache into Brazilian Portuguese, an endeavor carried out alongside Prof. Georg Otte and with the technical revision and foreword by Prof. Mauro Condé, published in Brazil in 2010. As the first translation of this author into Portuguese, we had the extraordinary responsibility of setting Fleck’s concepts in the new language, a crucial goal in philosophical translations. Beyond creating a glossary, it was necessary to preserve part of Fleck’s style and what he produces in the source language. On a lexical level, this meant considering expressions frequently used, as well as neologisms, archaisms, mots rares, self-references or references to a tradition. After this translating experience, it does not seem unfounded to suggest that translations are not exempt from what Fleck formulates concerning the development of science. Furthermore, it may be possible to develop a translation theory based on Fleckian grounds.