There was a comment on the first post of this blog yesterday (hope they don't mind that I use it) that was hardly "belated:"a belated comment on the title of your blog:
yes, "joyful knowing" seems to be a more apt translation of "froelich wissenschaft" than "gay science" in this instance.
Hardly belated, because I was just thinking of re-translating it... because I'm never sure whether it was really right at all.
I'm seeking a translation that brings out the inner sense of what Nietzsche means, and thus is less technical and literal than Kaufmann's "Gay Science." At the same time, I want to keep the reference to the type of thinking that Fichte (and other German Idealists) characterized as "science." So it isn't a matter of what is the best literal translation, first off, but in fact what are the best words to suggest what Nietzsche is getting at in that book.
Kaufmann's stodgy translation does bring out one crucial thing: Nietzsche is trying to name a type of Wissenschaft that cannot be the Wissenschaft of the German Idealists--in fact, would be the farthest from the sense of Wissenschaft that the German Idealists give it--precisely by only adding on a modifier, fröhlich--that is, precisely not by naming it something else. It is an ingenious and absolutely destructive modification--an instance of philology and desconstruction at its finest. What is named only by modifying the sense of Wissenschaft is precisely that which could never be Wissenschaft as we understand Wissenschaft: could anyone imagine a knowledge or system of knowing like Hegel's if we were also called to imagine it as fröhlich? These deep, dark philosophers could never take their business so lightly. But this is precisely something you don't need to know German Idealism to understand or enact: it is an appeal to a certain type of light-heartedness and mirth that produces those wonderful, deep laughs, when one is mocking oneself.
This is the sense Nietzsche is giving to the phrase, in my mind--the two poles it bounces between.
But, back to translation, how does one render this in English? Kaufmann doesn't ask whether those who translate the texts of German Idealism translated Wissenschaft correctly, so that remains a problem. The other English translation of the phrase, Joyful Wisdom, is just weird, but it gets at an underlying sense of fröhlich in a type of everyday way perhaps better than Kaufmann. "Gay" in the Kaufmann translation seems also to be right, however, because of the Italian Nietzsche cites on the title page of the second edition: gaya scienza. This confusing situation of the current English translations calls for clarification.
I attempted "Joyful Knowing," but I was thinking of re-translating it, because "joyful" doesn't really resonate with the self-mockery at play here--one isn't just joyful when one laughs at oneself. Knowing, however, I think is a pretty good translation of Wissenschaft--for Hegel and Fichte, a type of systematic thought is at stake, and I think that comes through if we keep "knowledge" in its active form, "knowing." It is a process that isn't done yet, that is connected to a power but also to a rigor. But also remaining a problem is that "joyful" doesn't resonate with the pseudo-psychological language Nietzsche uses to describe the happiness of a philosopher who laughs at himself, in the spirit of the inscription over the door to his house:
Ich wohne in meinem eigenen Haus,
Hab Niemandem nie nichts nachgemacht
Und--lachte noch jeden Meister aus,
Der nicht sich selber ausgelacht.
Which I'll render as:
I reside in my own house,
have never copied after nobody,
and--still laughed at one accomplished [I retranslated this after some judicious remarks one of you made]
who does not laugh at himself.
Meister here is tough to translate--I just left it at "man:" it is the word for any student who has gotten his degree in a technical apprenticeship. But on to the real issue: Looking back at the four books of the first edition of Die Fröhliche Wissenschaft in the fifth book (in 1887), Nietzsche at once brings up the question of "was es mit unserer Heiterkeit auf sich hat," that is, what it means to have or be with Heiterkeit. This word, then, seems to sum up what has been accomplished in the first four books, and be a good sort of indicator of the meaning of frölich, if not a synonym for it in Nietzsche's mind.
Heiterkeit means happiness, but it also means something like clarity or beauty, or sunniness. It is translated as "cheerfulness," but is perhaps rendered best in the sentence as "brightness." Why are these two senses, then, combined in this word, and why do they act as something synonymous for fröhlichkeit?
Because they are a word for the ease and cheeriness of a mind that is not concerned with purifying or purging itself of anything. If the task of Die Fröhliche Wissenschaft is to undo the Wissenschaft of German Idealism, it does not do this by slavishly rendering German Idealism "evil" (remember the distinction between "bad" and "evil" articulated in Beyond Good and Evil, and all that this distinction called us to think) but by rising above it like a lighter, clearer air over pollution.
But, if this air is clearer, it is only so by virtue of this putrid air below it--it is not something clean and clear and bright in and of itself, due to its participation in something that is purely pure: it is not the air outside Plato's cave, made bright and clean by the sun. Thus its brightness is not like that of a clear morning, but rather the harsh light of a summer afternoon in Sils-Maria (where Nietzsche vacationed and sought respite). It is some environment that can always be mocked if it takes itself too seriously, something always odd if one looks at it directly for what it is, so odd it seems harsh and stupid, though not as much as that which is below it. Cleanliness that is not pure, and perhaps appears laughable if one sees it in the light of all the scrubbing that, were others not so dirty, would have taken place for it to be without stain.
But all this is getting too technical. If we can combine all these senses into a prefix and place it before "knowing," I'd be surprised. So I'll leave it there for now, and see if I can come up with something better given the welcome suggestions of others. How can one capture the laughing at oneself that is present in the fröhlichkeit that Nietzsche appends to a type of knowing? This is the question I put to everyone: any suggestions?
12 comments:
sorry dont want to nitpick, but when there is so much translatory enthousiasm, how about writing 'fröhlich' with h? Meister in NIetzsches time did not refer to a student also who has gotten his degree, and neither does today, but to a craftsman (who have to do two exams: an earlier one and a later one after one is allowed to call oneself Meister which should not be confused with Master. These things are not easy to accomplish for 'everyman' hence Meister should be translated at any rate - for instance as master. I do not think either, that joyful knowing is a good translation of 'Fröhliche Wissenschaft', joyful is maybe something that could be ok, but if you kick out Wissenschaft and replace it with knowing - and of course, joyful knowing is what N was after, but every point of reference and all the lovely mockery is gone if the word Wissenschaft - science is not there anymore....
...but Heiterkeit as brightness is very apt, so and in this sense i stop this now and go read 'we philologists'....
Sorry about the h's: my computer makes me hit a certain button to put in the umlaut and because the person who wrote the comment did not write in the 'h' it just seeped in my head and I just kept on doing it for some reason, though of course i know how to spell frohlich--I also wrote the post in a frenzy, so please excuse. I'll go back and fix them.
as for meister, you're totally right--I'll go back and fix that too. i was searching for a word for someone with a technical accomplishment and came up with student--i was thinking student of the arts or technical skills, but it came out the other way. i do want to stress the point about accomplishment, however, because i think that's what Nietzsche is getting at writing unaffiliated in Sils-Maria etc in 1887. But frankly I don't think you can translate meister as master and still have any resonance in english. my ultimate contention is that he is naming, by meister, a user of techne, in the sense in which Heidegger elaborated that word. "Master" just refers one to the german and says nothing--this is what Kaufmann does, and I think it's lamentable.
I'll defend "knowing" a different time, but for now let me refer you to what I wrote:
Translators like Kaufmann don't ask whether those who translate the texts of German Idealism translated Wissenschaft correctly [by "science"], so that remains a problem.
What I mean is that "knowing" here attempts to frustrate the current translation of wissenschaft by science. as I said, wissenschaft names a process that isn't done yet, that is connected to a power but also to a rigor... I think Hegel has an interpretation of Fichte's term as something like this and I think that that is what Nietzsche is reacting to in the title.
And again, in closing, I'll also refer you to this:
it isn't a matter of what is the best literal translation... but in fact what are the best words to suggest what Nietzsche is getting at in that book.
I'm not really concerned with literalism or fidelity to etymologies etc.--the philological gesture here only traces a more interesting pattern of thought of what Nietzsche is getting at. One could call it "happy fun time" for all I care, and it'd be just as good as a literal translation, because the concern here is sense and not words. No one is "kicking out" wissenschaft by naming it something else, for example.
In the end I think that Nietzsche is naming something that someone cannot name by the title of his book: the play going on can't take place from the mere philological standpoint, though it might contain philology. That is, something that is so untranslatable it is unable to even be read in the German by Germans. Thanks for your remarks, though, and I'll go back and change some things (noting where I did so).
Oh, I left a thought unfinished above--my computer makes me hit an extra key to add the umlaut and i just forgot after doing that to add the h, moving right on to l, cause I'm not used to typing german.
oh you know, i mentioned 'We Philologists' merely as playful element here, as a sort of halfironical sidenote.
I don't know about a good equivalent for master in english.
well the concern is sense, and words. and i would be more than hesitant to interpret Meister in the sense of techne according to Heidegger even though it is seducing. I understand what you want to say about Hegel and Fichte and that it is not about the best literal word, but still I do think the literal word 'science' - Wissenschaft - here is the better choice, because knowing has just too many other connotations, - if you retranslate it back into german and science captures much better the whole reinterpretation of science by Nietzsche - or better, the dissolution of it. That of course the playful element that you indicate is untranslateable even for germans who read german is not really a valid argument, for this leaves the level of translation - or questions of translations and shifts to questions of interpretation. you know, i am in no way all for the literal, and one should not leave out of sight what Nietzsche was getting at - yet, he used words to describe what he was getting at, and especially with someone like Nietzsche who had an extraordinary feeling for language one should be extracareful with rendering words just so, because they fit better to a certain approach of interpretation.
You're not nitpicking, as you first said, but calling attention to how we must respect the German--and I thank you for it... but I was trying to provoke someone by provisionally translating or retranslating things in the light of interpretations rather than have anything set in stone: I don't really think my translation of any of the german is right--and that's why I translated it here. That's all I'm getting at when I say "One could call it "happy fun time" for all I care, and it'd be just as good as a literal translation, because the concern here is sense and not words..." which is of course worded poorly: "here," by which I mean, "in this setting, this provisional setting" I am more concerned with precisely translations that reflect what one might call concerns that are "external" or "foreign" to the sense of the words--that is, interpretations--in order to then, and only after the period of this provisionality is closed off, begin to specify an actual translation that would "render the words just so." The more this specificity in rendering can be imported into the foreign work of interpretation, however, the better this provisional situation is, of course.
When I said that Nietzsche is meaning something like Heidegger's interpretation of "technites" by Meister, it was along these lines: it is a strong reading of what the word signifies that is meant to give new sense to the word or at least open that word up to a new sense--a sense that by no means has to be identical to what is necessarily suggested by a rigid interpretation of Nietzsche's Meister as the user of Heideggerian techne.
So by technites I mean that we cannot see Nietzsche's meister here literally as an actual Heideggerian user of techne just as much as we cannot literally see the meister as a craftsman "in Nietzsche's time" that has various stipulated accomplishments that are documented on degrees, etc. I would contend that such a gesture empties out the task of translating just as much as any "enthusiastic" translation. Indeed, Meister means something like this, but the word here when translated has to be rendered not within the historical context as much as within the context of the poem.
What I mean is that provisionally it might be useful to see how the meister in the poem comes close to someone who is accomplished in something but cannot actually perform a task, a technical maneuver, that Nietzsche laughs at him for--that is, laughing... and then translate from this. And this is precisely not translating backwards from an interpretation, but instead an effort to open up or destroy a faded meaning, from which then we can settle on a real translation that would begin to respect the amazing, contorted, beautiful german of Nietzsche. I just didn't emphasize this intermediary step. But the meister is like a technites in a stronger way: he fails at laughing at himself, at his task, because he succumbs to the interpretation of everything in the same way, that is, seriously, as something to be worked upon seriously, like the technites for Heidegger focuses upon the world as a series of identical objects to be processed. This means not that we should translate Meister as technites or something, but rather that we have to try and see how meister works with the task of laughing in the line below and also with the "nachgemacht" in the line above--which I don't really render well by "copy," if this is the case, though I hoped it would go some way to doing this. The "making-after" that is not undergone by Nietzsche and ridiculed by him also relies upon a sort of lack of fondness for that which appears in the first line, "eigenen," the ownership and singularity that Nietzsche has in his residing in his house. The process of copying or making after or reproducing--killing off the unique or what could be owned or be as one's own--should lend a particular character to the inability of the Meister to laugh at himself--the interconnectedness of these signs is all that I'm merely indicating by saying that Nietzsche means something like Heidegger's user of techne.
I hope the above shows that I haven't just begun translating directly because I just see Nietzsche in a certain way, that I unthinkingly think about Nietzsche and then render him to my interpretations. I didn't say all this, but something as crazy and as rigid and formulaic as "my ultimate contention is that he is naming, by meister, a user of techne, in the sense in which Heidegger elaborated that word" should suggest that, if I still considered myself a translator, I was saying this as a provisional indicator of not a reading or interpretation but of a thought about how to render a name, a word, differently--my object is a name, as I say, or a signifier, or a word, and this is always different than a that of a reading or interpretation, which tries to relate the signifier to a signified in some way.
One more thing--all this said, "Joyful Knowing" really is a horrible translation, and I was only backing it up to call for more suggestions! Though other suggestions than "gay science." What I meant in saying that we can't name even in German what is being gotten at is really that fröhliche wissenschaft as a set of signifiers names a task and not a singular thing at all--see "Ernst nehmen" in the sidebar.
I think Kaufman's bemoaned 'technical' translations help to force english readers into reading between the lines. Maybe that's unnecessary, but literary translations can be as obnoxious as literal ones. I just wish there were more Hollingdale translations available (compare Kaufman's to Hollingdale's Thus Spoke Zarathustra translation, the former's is just plain weak).
I think you're right about Hollingdale--and right about the fact that I was bemoaning something that did not really need to be bemoaned: in fact, Kaufmann's excellent work usually errs (if it errs) in the direction of conversational phrases or idioms. I just was bemoaning it in this particular case: we lack a word like the French savior that has as wide a use (ranging from technical to everyday) as what I think Nietzsche is getting at by Wissenschaft. The forcing here to read between the lines, though, I agree is the right way to go when all is said and done--it is the most telling trait of an excellent translator in cases like this not to over-read the problem, which I do. This overreading itself could merely be said to be a response to the handy and judicious translation of Kaufmann. Whether that exceeds the realm of debate between translators I guess is the real question: the question my previous interlocutor here was getting at.
Keep in mind that "la gaya scienza" isn't Italian: it's Provençal. Nietzsche is referring to the art of the troubadours (via Wilhelm Meister)--noble knights and scholar/singers simultaneously, which is also related to Nietzsche's self-identification with the "Persian Virtue" (to speak the truth and shoot well with arrows). That's why there are so many songs in the book: he's trying to be a troubadour.
Hence, in Ecce Homo:
Who can have any doubt as to what "supreme hope" means here, once he has caught the gleam of the jeweled beauty of Zarathustra's first words at the close of the fourth book? Or once he has read the granite-like sentences at the end of the third book, where there is the first formulation of a destiny for all ages? The songs of Prince Free-as-a-Bird, written for the most part in Sicily, remind one quite forcibly of that Provencal notion of "La Gaya Scienza," of that union of singer, knight, and free spirit, which distinguishes that wonderfully early culture of the Provencals from all ambiguous cultures. The last poem, "To the Mistral," - an exuberant dance song in which, if you please, morality is freely trodden on - is a perfect Provencalism.
Laughing Wisdom
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