Harmonization

Harmonization in translation is not merely a stylistic tendency or a preference for smoothness; it is a methodological decision with far-reaching epistemic consequences.

Harmonization in translation occurs when a translator resolves a textual tension too early. Instead of recording ambiguity or conflict present in the source text, the translation selects one interpretation and presents it as if it were the only possible reading. This is not a neutral choice but a decision made at a stage where the method requires suspension rather than resolution.

From an evidence-based perspective, textual tension is data. Differences in wording, perspective, or logic are part of the evidence and should remain visible in translation as long as the evidence itself remains inconclusive. Harmonization removes this visibility. It simplifies the text by adding an interpretive solution that is not demanded by the data.

This leads to premature interpretive closure. The translation no longer reflects the structure of the source text but replaces it with a coherent narrative produced by the translator. As a result, uncertainty disappears not because it has been resolved, but because it has been edited out.

In EBBS, the simplest adequate rule applies: 

Do not add interpretive certainty where the evidence does not require it!

If the source text is ambiguous, the translation should remain ambiguous. If the text contains tension, the translation should preserve that tension. Any further resolution belongs to interpretation, not to translation.

Harmonization, therefore, is best understood as a decision error: it introduces an unnecessary assumption—the assumption of coherence—when the data themselves do not justify it.

Lisa Bourgeault | pexels.com