“DOUBLE-TRANSLATION” AS A POTENTIAL THEORETICAL-METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK IN POLITICAL THEORY AND THOUGHT

Abstract

This paper proposes a new interpretive framework, "double-translation," which is deeply connected to the Gramscian concept of translation. To develop this proposal, we conducted an extensive literature review that allowed us to identify three main theoretical-methodological articulations of translation: the first, which sees it as a mediation between cultures; the second, as violence; and the third, as a process of transformation. Among these, the Gramscian perspective proved most suitable for capturing the dynamic we seek to highlight — the dialogical and dialectical interaction between distinct cultures, shaped by internal and external power relations. However, we identified a critical gap: the uses of translation tend to maintain a vertical relationship between the Global North and Global South, making it difficult to understand how the center appropriates and reinterprets translations from the periphery. We aim to demonstrate the potential of "double-translation" as a tool for research that illuminates this very phenomenon.