Abstract:

Transknowletology raises the question of how the differences generated through knowledge reconstruction can be considered “true”. This article argues that an Althusserian problématique analysis of translation of concepts offers an intellectual-historical approach to this issue. Within this framework, the problématique analyses conducted by Benjamin Schwartz and Huang Kewu exhibit a complementary dialogue. Schwartz approaches Yan Fu’s problématique from a macro perspective, tracing intellectual genealogies through shared concerns and thereby illuminating the historical realities of intercultural encounters. Huang treats concepts as historically-structured clusters and, through a symptomatic reading of the “unfaithfulness” in Yan Fu’s translations, uncovers the deeper structure of Yan’s thought. Both approaches show that “unfaithfulness” in translation is a genuine historical trace of knowledge reconstruction. Such symptomatic analysis reveals how knowledge is obscured, foregrounded, and reconfigured in cross-linguistic transfer. This framework not only enriches the methodological resources of Transknowletology but also enables dialogues between translation studies and conceptual history as well as intellectual history.

Key words: Transknowletology, Translation of Concepts, Problématique, Yan Fu, Benjamin Schwartz, Huang Kewu