TRANSLATIONS OF THE TRANSLATION ― AN ATTEMPT OF A CLOSE READING OF WALTER BENJAMIN’S ESSAY ‘THE TASK OF THE TRANSLATOR’ AND PAUL DE MAN'S COMMENTARY ON THIS ESSAY
Abstract
Walter Benjamin wrote perhaps the most complex, most interesting essay on the process of translation under the title The Task of the Translator in 1923. This very complex work of literary and translation theory has been analysed and referred to by several literary scholars in the past almost 100 years, the Belgian–American literary scholar Paul de Man among them. The present research article makes an attempt to present a comparative analysis based on close reading of the texts between Benjamin’s original essay and Paul de Man’s commentary, figuring out the possible (and necessary) contradictions and ambiguities of the text, trying to find the answer to the question whether or not translation, at least in the successful sense of the word, exist at all. Deconstructionist way of reading literary and theoretical texts may give multiple answers to the questions about translation, and demonstrate the possibility and impossibility of translation at the same time.
Keywords: literary translation, translation theory, literary theory, Walter Benjamin, Paul de Man, deconstruction, close reading.
References
Barbara Johnson, The Task of the Translator, in Barbara Johnson, Mother Tongues: Sexuality, Trials, Motherhood, Translation, Harvard College, 2003, 40–64.
Carol Jacobs, In the Language of Walter Benjamin Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1999.
Hans-Georg Gadamer, Wahrheit und Methode, De Gruyter Verlag, Oldenbourg, 1999.
Iseni, A. (2016). Linguistic and Cultural Issues in Translation with Special Reference on Novels of James Joyce, Saul Bellow, and Vladimir Nabokov Translated from English into Albanian by Betim Muço. ANGLISTICUM. Journal of the Association-Institute for English Language and American Studies, 1(1), 20-26.
Iseni, A. (2016). Translation Features of Vedat Kokona on Several Dramas of Shakespeare. ANGLISTICUM. Journal of the Association-Institute for English Language and American Studies, 1(1), 6-11.
Mihály Szegedy-Maszák, Megértés, fordítás, kánon, Kalligram, Budapest-Bratislava, 2008.
Paul de Man, Walter Benjamin A műfordító feladata című írásáról. trans. Edit Király, Átváltozások., 1994/2. 65-80.
Walter Benjamin, A műfordító feladata. trans. Csaba Szabó. In: Walter Benjamin, A szirének hallgatása. Válogatott írások. Osiris, Budapest, 2001. 71-83.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Declaration/Copyright transfer:
1. In consideration of the undertaking set out in paragraph 2, and upon acceptance by ANGLISTICUM for publication of the manuscript in the Journal, I/We hereby assign and transfer publication rights to ANGLISTICUM, whereas I/We retain the copyright for the manuscript. This assignment provides ANGLISTICUM the sole right and responsibility to publish the manuscript in its printed and online version, and/or in other media formats.
2. In consideration of this assignment, ANGLISTICUM hereby undertakes to prepare and publish the manuscript in the Journal, subject only to its right to refuse publication if there is a breach of the Author’s warranty in paragraph 4 or if there are other reasonable grounds.
3. Editors and the editorial board of ANGLISTICUM are empowered to make such editorial changes as may be necessary to make the Manuscript suitable for publication.
4. I/We hereby acknowledge that: (a) The manuscript submitted is an original work and that I/We participated in the work substantively and thus I/We hereby are prepared to take public responsibility for the work; (b) I/We hereby have seen and approved the manuscript as submitted and that the manuscript has not either been published, submitted or considered for publication elsewhere; (c) The text, illustration, and any other materials included in the manuscript do not infringe upon any existing copyright or other rights of anyone.
5. I/We hereby indemnify ANGLISTICUM and the respective Editors of the Journal as mentioned in paragraph 3, and hold them harmless from any loss, expense or damage occasioned by a claim or suit by a third party for copyright infringement, or any suit arising out of any breach of the foregoing warranties as a result of publication of the manuscript.
