Attempts
translation
at arriving
have been
at comprehensive theories of
bedevilled by two extremist
debates. The first of them, between "li teral" and "free"
transl ation, is as old as the craft itself and has indeed
survived many attempts to reduce it to common sense . The
second, between literary and lingui stic approaches, seems
t o be the direct result of the modern penchant for
producing theoretical models for practicall y anything. To
my mind the most far-reaching attempt to show the
uselessness of the dichotomy between "literal" and "free"
is to be found in Steiner's 'After Babel'. Almost alone among modern language theorists Ebeling
refuses to see contradictions between the various warring
factions in modern language theory. In his view language '...is ultimately nothing other than the power which
creates understanding and brings people to understand each other'.
