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1、ThePoliticsofKnowledge:AreaStudiesandtheDisciplinesEditedbyDavidL.SzantonPublishedinassociationwithUniversityofCaliforniaPressINTRODUCTIONTHEORIGIN,NATURE,ANDCHALLENGESOFAREASTUDIESINTHEUNITEDSTATESDavidL.SzantonUniversityOfCalifornia,BerkeleyInhisessa
2、ythatfollows,AlanTansmannotesthatAreaStudiesisaformoftranslation;"anenterpriseseekingtoknow,analyze,andinterpretforeignculturesthroughamultidisciplinarylens.""Toknow,analyze,andinterpret"anotherculture-whetheranAmericanseekingtounderstandChina,oranAngo
3、lanseekingtounderstandIndia-isinevitablyanactoftranslation.Itisprimarilyanefforttomaketheassumptions,meanings,structures,anddynamicsofanothersocietyandculturecomprehensibletoanoutsider.Butitalsocreatesreflexiveopportunitiestoexpand,evenchallengebytheco
4、ntrast,theoutsider'sunderstandingofhisorherownsocietyandculture.The"multidisciplinarylens"isessentialbecausenosingleacademicdisciplineiscapableofcapturingandconveyingafullunderstandingofanothersocietyorculture.Goodtranslationsofanytext–whetherapoem,asp
5、eech,asocialevent,oraculture-mustbeginwithaseriousattempttounderstandthetext'sstructures,meanings,anddynamics.Thetextmustbesetinitsownlanguageandhistory,initspriortextsandcurrentcontextstoavoidsimplyimposingone’sownmeaningsorexpectationsonit.Perfecttra
6、nslationsarerarelypossible,somethingisalmostalwayslostintranslation;roughorpartialtranslationsarethebestwecanexpect.Inevitably,translationsfromorofevenverydistantlanguagesandcultureswillproducesomefamiliarideasandimages,andwillsupportsomefamiliarconcep
7、tsandpropositions.Buttheywillalsoalmostcertainlygeneratesomesurprises.Merelyfindingorimposingourownselves,structures,ordynamicsinanotherculture--ineffect,readingitasaRorschachinkblotontowhichweprojectourownexperience--onlytellsusaboutourselves.Italsopr
8、obablymeansthatwehavemissedwhateverwemighthavelearnedfromit.Suchfailurestounderstand--orprojectionsonto--othersocietiesandculturesoftenresultfromformsofethnocentrism.ThisseemsaparticulardangerintheUSgivenitspowerfulandnowseeminglyhegemo
