A PHENOMENOLOGICAL APPROACH TO TRANSLATOR SUBJECTIVITY

Abstract

This article adopts phenomenology to investigate how translators’ lived experience – what Husserl calls the lifeworld – inflects semantic decision-making when rendering memoirs. A synthesis of interview-based studies and descriptive process research shows that lexical choices, tone and the treatment of silence in life writing all correlate with translators’ personal histories, emotional repertoires and cultural allegiances. Drawing on twenty recent sources, including Uzbek scholarship, the discussion reframes “subjectivity” as an interpretive resource rather than a contaminant. The conclusion proposes pedagogical exercises and ethical guidelines that legitimise reflexive positioning while guarding against solipsism