Abstracts
Abstract
The concept of “afterlife” constitutes a central theme in Die Aufgabe des Übersetzers, yet the German equivalent to “afterlife” does not appear once in Walter Benjamin’s seminal essay on translation. This article investigates the German term that Benjamin has in fact chosen and examines the highly problematic translation of his idea. Some of the resulting interpretations by translation theorists are presented, along with the potentially deleterious effects on the translation community.
Keywords:
- Walter Benjamin,
- afterlife,
- mistranslation,
- translation theory,
- literary translation
Résumé
Le concept de « survie » est le thème central de Die Aufgabe des Übersetzers de Walter Benjamin, bien que l’équivalent allemand du terme « survie » n’apparaisse jamais tel quel dans cet essai fondateur pour la traductologie. Notre article se penche sur le terme allemand choisi par Benjamin pour rendre ce concept et examine les traductions de ce terme qui posent de sérieux problèmes. L’article présente aussi quelques-unes des interprétations qui découlent de ces traductions ainsi que leur effet possiblement dommageable pour le domaine de la traduction.
Mots-clés :
- Walter Benjamin,
- survie,
- erreur de traduction,
- théorie de la traduction,
- traduction littéraire
Appendices
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