解構(gòu)主義與翻譯

1、解構(gòu)主義與翻譯:Deconstructionisatrendofthoughtwhichisopposedtoandchallengedtheacademicnormsandthecommonsense,especiallythecommonmodelofknowledgerepresentedbythetraditionalstructurallinguistics.Astheinitiatorandoneoftherepresentativesofdeconstruction,theFrenchphilosopherJacquesDerridaheldthatdeconstructiona

2、imedtoeliminatedualityandtodeconstructoriginalityandnucleus.BasedontheguidanceofDerridasthinkingandhisdeconstructiveviewtowardstotranslation,theworkofKathleenDavisDeconstructionandTranslationreconsideredsometheoreticalandpracticalissuesaswellastheimplicationsofdeconstructionfortranslation.1、 Introdu

3、ction“Thereisnothingoutsidethetext”or“thereisnooutsidetext”(1967a/1974:158).Hehassincefurtherexplaineditas“thereisnothingoutsidecontext”(1988:136).DerridasworkDesToursdeBabelwaswrittenforaconferenceontranslationheldinBinghamton,NewYork,in1980.Itwaspublished,withanEnglishtranslationbyJosephf.Graham,i

4、nDifferenceinTranslation.ThediscussionoftranslationinthisbookprovidesthekeytoDerridasthinkingabouttranslation.2、 DifferanceThroughastoryof“makeapropername”inDesToursdeBabel,itdeconstructstheconceptthatauniversallanguagecouldeverexist,bydemonstratingthelimitoflanguage:theShemitescannotattemptlinguist

5、ictranscendence,withoutbringingconfusionintotheirlanguage.Moreover,inimposinghisname,Goddeconstructshimself.Apropername,whichcannotsignifywithoutinscriptioninalanguagesystem,mustfunctioninarelationofdifferencewithothersignifiers.Inordertoexpressthespatio-temporaldifferentialmovementoflanguagesuccinc

6、tly,Derridahascoinedtheneologismdifference.DerridanotesthatwhiletheFrenchverbdifferencehastwomeanings,roughlycorrespondingtotheEnglishtodeferandtodiffer,thecommonworddifferenceretainsthesenseofdifferencebutlacksatemporalaspect.ButDerridasaysthatdifferenceisnotaconceptorevenawordintheusualsense;wecan

7、notassignitameaning,sinceitistheconditionofpossibilityformeanings,whichareeffectsofitsmovement,orplay.Intheinterpretationofmeaning,anysignifyingelementthatseemspresent“isrelatedtosomethingotherthanitself,therebykeepingwithinitselfthemarkofthepastelement,andalreadylettingitselfbevitiatedbythemarkofit

8、srelationtothefutureelement”(1972c/1982:13).Forinstance,ifIsaythatIamcold,theconceptofcoldnesstowhichIreferisnotanessenceinandofitself,butsignifiesonlythroughitsrelationtoconceptsofcool,warm,hot,etc./whichareabsentfrommystatement,andarenot,ofcourse,presencesintheirownright.Thesameholdstrueforaspects

9、ofcontext:IcouldsaythatIamcoldasIcomeoutoftheoceanonacloudysummerday,andIcouldsaythatIamcoldasItrudgethroughamid-winterCanadiansnowstorm.Infact,thereferentialfunctionoflanguagedependsuponthepossibilityoftheabsenceofareferent.3、 TheLimitThelimit,asDerridausesit,doesnotindicateaclean-cutboundarybetwee

10、nentities.Asanexample,wecanconsiderthebordersofanation,which,ontheonehand,bordersmarkthenationsidentityandthusitspoliticalpossibility;ontheotherhand,bordersmarkthenationsrelationtoothernations,withoutwhichitcouldnotberecognizedasanation.Bymarkingtherelationtotheother,bordersindicatesthatthenationcar

11、rieswithinitselfthetraceofwhatithasdiffered/deferredinitsemergence.Thelimitofalanguage,then,isnotdecidableorabsolute,butbothaboundaryandastructuralopeningbetweenlanguages,contexts.Apropernamestandsapartfromlanguage,butatthesametimecannotsignifywithoutinscriptioninageneralcode.Itssignificationisthatd

12、ifferentialplayoftraces,andcannot,therefore,beextractedfromtheevent.Thethemeofatranscendentalsignifiedtookshapewithinthehorizonofanabsolutelypure,transparent,andunequivocaltranslatability.Inthelimitstowhichitispossible,oratleastappearspossible,translationpracticesthedifferencebetweensignifiedandsign

13、ifier.Thedifferencebetweenthesignifierandsignifiedisnotmadepossiblebecauseasignifiercanpointtosomemeaningthathasarealityoutsideoflanguage,butbecauselanguageaccrues,throughfairlyregulatedrepetitionofsignifiersinageneralcode,certaininstitutedmeaningeffects.4、 IterabilityAsDerridasdiscussionofthediffer

14、encebetweensignifierandsignifiedindicates,heusestheexampleofShakespearesworktoprovethatallishistoricalthroughandthrough.Theiterabilityofthetraceistheconditionofhistoricity.Derriaisnotpositingstabilityandinstabilityasoppositepolesbetweenwhichonecanfindcompromise;rather,stabilityandinstabilityaremutua

15、llyconstitutivenecessities.Thus,whilestabilitygivesusaccesstotexts,itisalsolimited,fororigin. Second, stabilitya text s author nor itsdetermine its repetition point of view, every signseveralreasons.First,thereisalwaysdifferenceattheisalsolimitedbecauseneitherenactmentinonecontextcanfullyinanotherco

16、ntext.InDerridas“canbreakwitheverygivencontext,andengenderinfinitelynewcontextsinanabsolutelynonsaturablefashion”(Derrida1972c/1982:320)Thefactthatasigncanneverbefullydeterminedismadeespeciallyobviousby-butiscertainlynotrestrictedto-casesofadaptativetranslationandwordplay.Howdoesoneidentifyaliterary

17、orsacredtext?Derridareturnsthequestiontothwprocessoftranslation,andreversestheexpectedorderofthings.Theliteraryandthesacreddonot,asself-definedpresences,precedetranslation;rather,atextbecomesliterarywhenitappears“untranslatable”,whenitseemsasimpossibletotranslateasapropername.Atthatpoint,itgetssacra

18、lized:ifthereisanyliterature,itissacrad;itentailssacralization.Thisissurelytherelationwehavetoliterature,inspiteofallourdenegationinthisregard.Theprocessofsacralizationisunderwaywheneveronesaystooneselfindealingwithatext:basically,Icanttransposethistextsuchasitisintoanotherlanguage;thereisanidiomher

19、e;itisawork;alltheeffortsattranslationthatImightmake,thatititselfcallsforthanddemands,willremain,inacertainwayandatagivenmoment,vainorlimited.Thistext,thenisasacredtext.Derrida1982/1985:148).5、 ConclusionDerridasuggests,signifiessimultaneouslya“colonialviolenceandapeacefultransparencyofthehumancommu

20、nity”(1985:174).Deconstructiondemonstratesthenecessarilypluralnatureoflanguage,andinsiststhatthenotionofapuretongueoruniversallanguageisultimatelytotalitarian.Differenceisnotaconcept,andcannotbeusedtogroundorfoundatowering,totalizingtruth-theory.Languagecanneverbesuprahistorical:thereareonlycontexts

21、.Derridaemphasizesthatmeaningisalwayscontext-specificandalwaysrequirestranslation.BecausetranslationasBlanchotputsit,isfoundedonthedifferencebetweenlanguages(1971/1990:83),itassuresthesurvivaloflanguagesandthecorrelativeimpossibilityoffullydetermined,totalitarianmeaning.Deconstructiondoesnotimposeit

22、sowntruthnordoesiteraseallsenseoftruth.References：1 、Akmajian,Adrian,RichardA.Demers,AnnK.FarmerandRobertM.Harnish(1995)linguistics:anintroductiontolanguageandcommunication,4thed,Cambridge,MA&London:MIPpress2 、Benjamin,Walter(1955/1969)DieAufgabedesUbersetzers,inIlluminationen,Frankfurt:Suhrkamp

23、;trans.HarryZonhnasTheTaskoftheTranslator,inIlluminations,NewYork:Schocken,69-823 、KathleenDavis.DeconstructionandTranslation.ShanghaiForeignLanguageEducationPress.20064 、Littau,Karen(1997)translationintheageofPostmodernProduction:FromTexttoIntertexttoHypertext,ForumforModernLanguageStudies33(1):81-965 、Godard,Barbara(1990)TreorizingFemi