The text of 'Chuang Tzu' and the problem of interpretation: A critical study of Martin Buber's translation and commentary

This thesis offers a sinological perspective on Martin Buber's much overlooked Reden und Gleichnisse des Tschuang-tse (Talks and Parables of Chuang Tzu), his 1910 translation of and commentary on Chuang Tzu, one of the oldest classics of the Taoist tradition. It is here demonstrated that Buber's work represents not only a transitional stage between his early Hasidic studies and later dialogical writings--Buber completed the first draft of Ich und Du (I and Thou) in 1916--but also a significant contribution to the longstanding sinological task of interpreting the text of Chuang Tzu. This project includes annotated English translations of both the text and commentary portions of Buber's volume, as well as critical analyses integrating Buber's work into the modern sinological discourse. The point of departure is the complex interpretive history of the Chinese text itself, and how Buber's unique interpretive perspective brings crucial hermeneutic challenges to light.; The integrative chapters of the thesis illustrate the heuristic value of Buber's text with respect to three hermeneutic models--historical reconstruction, interactive interpretation, and aesthetic reception--which are determined by the demands of the document at hand and the rigors of modern literary theory. Taken cumulatively, the conclusions produced in these chapters carry important ramifications for three scholarly disciplines. First, they charge Buber Scholars with revising their understanding of the philosophical antecedents to the dialogical principle. Second, they demonstrate the need for sinologists to develop a new hermeneutic self-consciousness in certain areas of textual analysis. And finally, they urge scholars in the study of mysticism to reconsider the possibilities for sound comparative investigations.