Hermeneutics and pedagogy through the lens of translation: reflections on the pedagogical value of the pragmatic aspects in translation

Today, the possibility or impossibility of translation is a matter that still divides philosophers and translators, while triggering much debate and discussion. There are many controversial theories for some aspects of translation pointing to the field of cognitive processes on one hand and to the field of hermeneutics, on the other hand. Is it therefore possible (or not) to accord accurate interpretations to texts? The focus of this chapter is to consider all aspects that make it possible to question and critically analyse the different paths of education and self-education, as a continuum of experience and interpretation during one’s whole life. As translation is to literary work, interpretation is the product of our own interior modelling. The main issues considered here in this chapter are: the interpretation of our own personal experience and the new space that is created, whilst finding new meaning to the phenomena of existence. Next, the hermeneutical circle is presented as a representation of a model of the combined text comprehension and existence in history. Finally, translation is then illustrated as a prolific philosophical and pragmatical activity that can shed light on the process of interpretation.