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Quoting the Critical Art Ensemble. | 1 comments
[new] quotations and footnotes (Avg. Score: none / Raters: 0) (#1)
by Aileen on Tue Aug 12th, 2003 at 11:38:54 AM EURODISCORDIA TIME
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In a text I was working on yesterday there was a discussion of quotations and the practice of quoting, describing this practice as a kind of ritual affirming a sense of belonging. As a result, I found myself thinking about all the different ways that "my" authors use quotations and footnotes. Over the years I have adopted the practice of collecting references and making sure that I have the most frequently cited sources available in English (rather than attempting to translate a quote from Foucault, for example, from German to English, when a well informed translation from French into English already exists). While I enjoy reading footnotes that contain the author's tangentially related thoughts on the side, those are the most difficult to translate - even though they often lead to the most interesting correspondence.
The idea of a kind of ritual affirmation "this is the group I belong to" seems to fit in most cases, though, tying into an existing tradition of thought, rather than trying to explain the broader framework. Maybe that is why it works well that quotes and citations provide me with important clues about the type of vocabulary, specific terms and concepts that are likely to be needed to translate the relevant text appropriately. That doesn't mean, though, that authors who don't use extensive quotes and references are *not* tying into an existing tradition of thought - sometimes the broader framework seems to be taken for granted, as though presupposing that the readers will automatically share the same framework. It seems to me that there is a very fine line between using too many references (which can result in an impression of either insecurity or arrogance) and taking too much for granted.



Quoting the Critical Art Ensemble. | 1 comments
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