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Russian to English: A translated piece from Juri Lotman's article "People and Signs" General field: Science
Source text - Russian Истребление животных человеком далеко не всегда диктуется борьбой за существование — очень часто оно есть следствие непонимания намерений и действий животных. Рассуждения о том, что «животные не умеют думать» и, следовательно, «их
невозможно понять», «они и сами друг друга не понимают и живут в вечной войне», «самое простое — избавиться от них», не только элементарно невежественны, но и подозрительно напоминают аргументы, на которые ссылались колонизаторы, ведя в прошлом веке истребительные войны против туземцев в Африке, Австралии и Америке. Тот, кто не понимает другого, всегда склонен считать, что тут и понимать нечего, надо истреблять. Но в конфликте человека с животным миром сила оказалась на его стороне. Так ли это будет в случае космических контактов? Не слишком ли здесь велик риск, чтобы к нему относиться легкомысленно? А если это так, то очевидно, что научное исследование сущности
понимания может получить некогда совсем не абстрактно-академическое значение.
Translation - English Animals’ extermination by humans is not at all always dictated by fight for survival: quite regularly it is a consequence of misunderstanding of animals’ actions and intentions. Arguing that “animals cannot think,” and, therefore, “they cannot be understood,” “they do not understand each other themselves and constantly live in war” or “the simplest thing to do is just get rid of them,” is not only plain ignorance, but is suspiciously similar to the arguments employed by colonizers of the previous century who waged annihilatory wars against indigenous peoples in Africa, Australia and America. Someone who does not understand someone else is always inclined to believe that there is nothing to understand here – better to just put someone down. However, in the man’s conflict with the world of animals the force was at his side. Will it turn out the same way in a case of space contacts? Isn’t the risk here too great to treat it lightly? And if it is so, then it is obvious that the scientific study of the essence of understanding may gain significance that will not simply be abstractly academic.
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I am a novice translator from Estonia and I´m also currently studying to become a professional translator by attending a Master course in translation at the University of Tallinn. My working languages are English and Italian. My interests are human sciences (liberal arts, fictional and non-fictional literature) and video games.
Keywords: italian, english, russian, estonian, history, arts, liberal arts, linguistics, literature, general translation. See more.italian, english, russian, estonian, history, arts, liberal arts, linguistics, literature, general translation, videogames, games. See less.
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