Translating experience, experiencing translationality

Abstract

Starting from reflections on information as knowledge involving the formation of ideas and minds, this article invokes Tim Ingold’s concept of wayfaring that highlights the processual, emergent, and social aspects of becoming knowledgeable. ‘How do we know?’ is posed as a fundamental epistemological question focusing both on the sources of knowledge (investigation, study, and instruction) and the complex processes of knowledge formation and transfer. Given that the epistemic processes of making sense and assessing evidence rely on experience, the latter element is analysed in detail as an English-language concept, including its history, development, and current status, leading to the notion of experiential knowledge. The final part of the article, by drawing on translation as corporeal movement, suggests translationality as an epistemology experientially grounded in material translation. The experience of translationality is subsequently related to music and musical instruments. The article closes with a call to explore other forms of translationality.

KEYWORDS: Information; Knowledge; Experience; Translationality