When a Wonder Is Not a Wonder

Swahili, Translation, and the Communication of Knowledge

Bibliographic Data

ID3701445
AuthorsMorgan J Robinson, Morgan Robinson (0000-0003-4338-8116, Mississippi State University, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume114
Issue2
Pages233-248
Publication date2023-06-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueIsis (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0021-1753 • E-ISSN: 1545-6994
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/724869
OpenAlexW4376869997
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited15

Talking about the things we know is at once an everyday occurrence and an incredibly complicated process—the complexity of which, as historians of science have frequently demonstrated, can be a hindrance to the production and communication of knowledge. This essay frames this difficulty as a problem of translation. “Translation” here means two things: first, the interlinguistic process of moving ideas from one language to another; and, second, the intralinguistic question of whether knowledge can be turned into words at all, regardless of the languages in question. Paying attention to both dimensions of the translation problem, the essay explores various solutions proposed in and with the Swahili language during the colonial and postcolonial periods in Tanganyika/Tanzania. This context brings into stark relief the flows of power and authority that often determine which ways of speaking and knowing are accepted and which dismissed; it also brings to light translations that sometimes move against the expected current of power, as speakers and writers, both “expert” and “nonexpert,” simply went about the business of discussing the things they knew

Context (archaeology · Epistemology · Linguistics · Power (physics · Sociology · Swahili · Wonder · African history and culture analysis · African history and culture studies · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · History · Philosophy

Tools

Open DOI