本文由翻译理论的科际传播现象 出发,讨论“观念的旅行”问题,就萨义德的旅行理论和刘禾的跨语际实践这两大主流观点进行了评述,对社会生物学视角下的研究进行了介绍,尤其对近年来知识与翻译关系的研究进行了分析。本文指出,观念与知识的旅行必须借助于中介来实现,其中翻译和人的因素十分关键。除此之外,观念和知识的吸引力和传播的接受环境也不能忽视。本文最后对狭义的翻译知识史研究以及广义的知识翻译学的倡议进行了讨论,指出知识翻译学提出的“本地化知识的世界化”突出了翻译在知识生产过程中发挥的关键作用,并认为可以从本体论、方法论和价值论三个方面建构知识翻译学的体系。

Responding to a question of how translation theories travel across disciplinary boundaries, this article addresses the notion of “ideas traveling”, making critical reviews of Said’s Travelling Theories and Lydia Liu’s Translingual Practices. Besides, attention is given to some research conducted within sociobiological field. This article argues that ideas can never travel without media. Central to it is translation and persons who act as connectors. Another two factors involved are the attractiveness of the ideas per se and their transmission environment. As a conclusion, the monograph of Translation Memes is criticized for its ignorance of the important role played by media in circulating ideas. Centering on the proposal of transknowletology by Chinese scholar Yang Feng, who advocates the process of transferring local knowledge to the world, this article concludes that further efforts can be devoted to the study in terms of ontology, methodology and ethics so as to consolidate transknowletology.