Beyond Text-to-Text: Embodied Experience in Daoist Scripture Translation – a Case Study of Livia Kohn’s Sitting in Oblivion

Abstract

This article examines the role of embodied knowledge in translating practice-oriented religious texts through a case study of Livia Kohn’s Sitting in Oblivion: The Heart of Daoist Meditation . While Kohn’s translation of the Tang-dynasty Zuowang Lun 坐忘論 exhibits clear markers of phenomenological literacy – experientially precise terminology, recognition of practice progressions, and technical accuracy in somatic descriptions – her systematic avoidance of positionality statements creates “unmarked phenomenological authority” that obscures how embodied knowledge informs interpretive decisions. This methodological ambiguity raises critical questions about verification, historical incommensurability, and translator objectivity. This paper proposes “triangulated transparency” – a framework integrating explicit positionality statements, collaborative translation models, and phenomenological annotation protocols – to harness somatic literacy’s benefits while mitigating risks of anachronism and sectarian bias. By reframing embodied knowledge as phenomenological competency rather than mystical privilege, this study contributes to methodological pluralism in religious translation studies.