Luhmann's 'Social Systems' Theory: Preliminary Fragments for a Theory of Translation

The present essay is an attempt to apply the German sociologist Niklas Luhmann's 'Social Systems' theory to translation. Luhmann's book unfolds a theoretical view of human society as a closed system. In trying to apply it to translation as a practical communicative complexity, especially from the perspective of a functional model as e.g. the 'skopos' theory, certain features discussed in Luhmann will prove to be helpful for a better understanding of the concept of translation, others must be reinterpreted for the present purpose. The 'fragments' now published follow Luhmann's considerations as closely as possible, but refrain from drawing detailed parallels to 'translation' as a complex system.

Prof. Dr. Hans J. Vermeer taught Portuguese and translation theory at the universities of Mainz and Heidelberg. Retired since 1992, he nonetheless continued to accompany the development of translation theories and to teach in various universities abroad. His work comprises (mostly unpublished) lectures and contributions to conferences and publications on Translation Studies, medieval German specialized literature and South Asian languages.