From Representation to Enactment: The ABC Framework of the Translating Mind
arXiv Preprint Archive November 20, 2025 Michael Carl, Takanori Mizowaki, Aishvarya Raj et al.
Translation is not a matter of manipulating static correspondences between languages but an enacted activity that dynamically integrates affective, behavioral, and cognitive processes. Drawing on Extended Mind theory, radical enactivism, Predictive Processing, and Active Inference, the authors argue that the translator's mind emerges through loops of brain-body-environment interactions rather than being merely extended. 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.