From Representation to Enactment: The ABC Framework of the Translating Mind
Michael Carl, Takanori Mizowaki, Aishvarya Raj, Masaru Yamada, Devi Sri Bandaru, Yuxiang Wei, Xinyue Ren
arXiv Preprint Archive November 20, 2025 preprint
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Cs.cl |
| Key points | Proposes that translation is not the manipulation of static interlingual correspondences but an enacted activity dynamically integrating affective, behavioral, and cognitive processes, with the translator's mind emerging through brain-body-environment interactions. |
Abstract
Building on the Extended Mind (EM) theory and radical enactivism, this article suggests an alternative to representation-based models of the mind. We lay out a novel ABC framework of the translating mind, in which translation is not the manipulation of static interlingual correspondences but an enacted activity, dynamically integrating affective, behavioral, and cognitive (ABC) processes. Drawing on Predictive Processing and (En)Active Inference, we argue that the translator's mind emerges, rather than being merely extended, through loops of brain-body-environment interactions. This non-representational account reframes translation as skillful participation in sociocultural practice, where meaning is co-created in real time through embodied interaction with texts, tools, and contexts.