The Issue of Faithful Translation According to Roman Ingarden

Abstract

In this article I reflect on the concept of fidelity, which I believe is of fundamental importance in any discourse on translation. According to Roman Ingarden in his essay “On Translation,” this concept may appear in a variety of different contexts – ethical, epistemological and aesthetic – allowing us to better understand the essential components of a faithful translation. When attempting to reconstruct Ingarden’s own concept of what constitutes a faithful literary translation, I refer not only to the above text, but also to his research within the fields of ethics, epistemology and the philosophy of literature. I also consider his role as an author and editor of translations of Immanuel Kant’s works, published in the series Library of Philosophical Classics. To conclude, I try to place the results of this reconstruction within the context of the various theories to be found in contemporary translation studies.