An Aristotle’s Interpretation of Tragedy in Poetics
"Aristotle did not operate with a concept of a 'tragic hero' in an individualized or romantic or Hamlet-like sense. Instead, Jones argued, Aristotle thought of tragedy in 'situational' terms. A notion like the tragic 'change of fortune' in a tragic play should therefore be understood not in a 'personal' but in a 'situational' sense. Jones pointed out, for instance, that Aristotle does not speak of' the change in the hero's fortune', as some translations have it, but simply of' the change of fortune', the reference being to 'a state of affairs' rather than to 'the stage-portrayal of one man's vicissitude' (Jones, 1971: 14-16). A different understanding of Aristotle's meaning means a different translation of his words. These differences are played out in time. A rendering into English may need to make an effort both to wrap itself around the quality of the Greek words as understood anew by the modern commentator and to mark the difference with earlier understandings. The particular example I have picked comes in Jones" discussion of the ' recognition' (anagnorisis) of the fatal error in a tragedy." from THEO HERMANS', Cross-cultural translation studies as thick translation. Bulletin of SOAS, 66.(3):380, Original text, Pp.380-389, 2003
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