Beginning in france in the 1950s, the structuralist movement in anthropology analyzed various cultural phenomena as general systems of signs and attempted to develop metalanguages of terms and concepts in which the different. Deconstruction definition of deconstruction by merriamwebster. But with this on the other hand lewis starts to talk about what i would call a deconstructive translation rather than simply a translation of deconstruction. Deconstruction, form of philosophical and literary analysis, derived mainly from work begun in the 1960s by the french philosopher jacques derrida, that questions the fundamental conceptual distinctions, or oppositions, in western philosophy through a close examination of the language and logic of philosophical and literary texts. Jacques derrida stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Rather than create translation problems, deconstruction empowers the translator to explore related approaches to translation problems.
Deconstructionism is basically a theory of textual criticism or interpretation that denies there is any single correct meaning or interpretation of a passage or text. The option that describes a deconstructionist approach to a text is complicate the meaning of the text. Deconstruction, form of philosophical and literary analysis, derived mainly from work begun in the 1960s by the french philosopher jacques derrida, that questions the fundamental conceptual distinctions, or oppositions, in western philosophy through a close examination of the language and logic. Extending the philosophical excursions of nietzsche and heidegger, derrida criticized the entire tradition of western philosophys search to discover the essential structure of knowledge and reality, ultimately confronting the limits of human thought. Deconstruction basically aims at proving that a literary text is not certainly. A philosophical movement and theory of literary criticism that questions traditional assumptions about certainty, identity, and truth. Deconstruction literature synonyms, deconstruction literature pronunciation, deconstruction literature translation, english dictionary definition of deconstruction literature. Deconstruction inaugurates its school of thought by deconstructing the main bases, which have for centuries long, constructed the core of traditional western translation thought about translation, such as signification, meaning, intention, purpose, and relevance, each of which will be explained latter in section 3. This is also known as poststructuralist, this criticism came after structuralism.
Mar 22, 2016 deconstruction was both created and has been profoundly influenced by the french philosopher jacques derrida. Deconstruction deconstruction in literary studies britannica. July 15, 1930 october 9, 2004 was an algerianborn french philosopher best known for developing a form of semiotic analysis known as deconstruction, which he discussed in numerous texts, and developed in the context of phenomenology. Explains ways in which many practical and theoretical probl. Examples of deconstruction in a sentence, how to use it. Jul 08, 20 history of deconstruction rene descartes 15961650 and fredrick nietzsche 18441900 were pioneers in deconstruction. Deconstructions reception was coloured by its intellectual predecessors, most notably structuralism and new criticism. It was originated by the philosopher jacques derrida 19302004, who conducted readings of texts looking for things that run counter to their intended meaning or structural unity. Deconstruction and the practice of translation by kruger. Deconstruction in translation sounds like a rather broad remit to me, so perhaps you should do the background reading first and then focus on a specific aspect you wish to look at.
Deconstruction and theory 1 any discussion regarding the value of deconstruction as a theoretical approach to translation must first grapple with the question of whether deconstruction can indeed be defined as theory. In view of the pluralistic nature of meaning, exactly to what translation is faithful is seriously and ultimately challenged. Deconstructionist and poststructuralist translation approaches represent some of the most provoking albeit controversial views of translation in modern translation studies. Beginning in france in the 1950s, the structuralist movement in anthropology analyzed various cultural phenomena as general systems of signs and attempted to develop metalanguages. Deconstruction and translation kathleen davis download. In the introduction, davis states that she will, whenever possible, include the work of translation scholars p. It seeks to find the differences, contradictions, paradoxes, ambiguity and disintegration in short, loopholes in the text. Books showing deconstruction in action or defining it more completely include differance, speech and phenomena, and writing and difference.
His first book 1962 was a translation of husserls origin of geometry, with a long 170page introduction derrida 1977, but his major impact. Deconstruction and translation 1st edition kathleen davis. The purpose of deconstruction is to show that the usage of language in a. Deconstruction is an approach to understanding the relationship between text and meaning. Deconstruction is a critical outlook concerned with the relationship between text and meaning. The self is the source of meaning, which is expressedintentionally through language. Deconstruction, as derrida explains, is not a stepbystep process, but rather an intuitive inspection of elements as they form a whole. Deconstructionism is it a valid way to interpret the bible. Deconstructionism is it a valid way to interpret the.
Deconstruction is a way of understanding how something was created, usually things like art, books, poems and other writing. Deconstruction the following entry discusses deconstruction theory as a method of critical analysis of philosophical and literary texts. By ingrid melody english letters, universitas ma chung 2. Deconstructionists like to dig very deep into the text, and find meanings that arent obvious at the first, second, or even the third glance. Selected books on deconstruction and jacques derrida. A current problem newcomers to modern translation studies have to face is the increasing number of thinkers and scholars whose work is not always explicitly linked to. The translators turn is his first book on theory of translation based. The term deconstruction was coined by french philosopher jacques derrida in the 1960s. Deconstruction and translation explain ways in which many practical and theoretical problems of translation can be rethought in the light of the work of the french philosopher jacques derrida. If youre behind a web filter, please make sure that the domains. In other words, deconstruction is less something applyable, something outside languagetext, than an inner textual approach perspective.
Subjecting deconstruction and translation to a deconstructive analysis in this manner, one cannot help but conclude that for davis, the sole origin of deconstructionist translation theory is derrida himself, and that translation studies are the excluded and effaced wholly other in her study. Jacques derridas revolutionary approach to phenomenology, psychoanalysis, structuralism, linguistics, and indeed the entire european tradition of philosophycalled deconstructionchanged the face of criticism. If any theory takes blood, sweat, and tears to master, its deconstruction. Deconstruction is an apparent revolution against all the literary theories before itself which vouch for a unity in the literary texts. Although he carefully avoided defining the term directly, he sought to apply martin heideggers concept of destruktion or abbau, to textual reading. Deconstruction and translation translation theories explored. Deconstruction is a term introduced by french philosopher jacques derrida in his 1967 book of grammatology.
Addressing a group of psychoanalysts in 1981, jacques derrida characterized himself as a foreign body in the institution of psychoanalysis derrida, 1991, pp. Structuralism this is the prelude to deconstruction. Derrida, who coined the term deconstruction, argues that in western culture, people tend to think and express their thoughts in terms of binary oppositions white black, masculine feminine, cause effect, conscious unconscious. Deconstructionist and poststructuralist translation approaches. Jacques derrida, the 20th century french literary theorist, pioneered the school of thought in literature and philosophy known as deconstructionism. Although derrida at times expressed regret concerning the fate of the word deconstruction, its popularity indicates the wideranging influence of his thought, in.
Derridas original use of the word deconstruction was a translation of destruktion, a concept from the work of martin heidegger that derrida sought to apply to textual reading. Deconstruction and translation research derrida today. However, it is worth recalling that deconstructions critique is of presence. Deconstruction captures and elucidates the complexity of translation in relation to the variability and complexity of its nature and practice. Jacques derrida shelved 2 times as derridaand deconstruction avg rating 3. Deconstruction s reception was coloured by its intellectual predecessors, most notably structuralism and new criticism. Deconstruction literature definition of deconstruction. Deconstruction deconstruction deconstruction in literary studies.
Deconstructionist and poststructuralist translation. The reason for the animus against the wild variety is that they cannot provide a model for literary criticism. In simplest terms, structuralists, take linguistics as a model and attempt to develop grammarssystematic inventories of elements and their possibilities of combinationsthat would account for the form and meaning of literary works. The implications for translation theory are then elaborated, complicating the desire for translatability and incorporating sharp critique of linguistic and communicative approaches to translation. Without oversimplifying or glossing over the challenges, norris makes deconstruction more accessible to the reader.
Deconstructionists were part of a larger movement, known as the postmodern movement. The author of revelation declines at the end to have conclusively determined its meaning rev. Deconstruction and translation is a useful introduction to derrida s ideas of language and translation, but when it comes to translation theory it seems to promise more than it delivers. In pyms words, oppositions to the deconstructionist approach to translation fall under three main categories, opposition to a generalized external conception of translation, restriction to a problematic of origins, and a residual inferiorization of translation pym, 1995. Deconstruction and translation, by kathleen davis, was published in 2001 as part of the translation theories explained series, edited by anthony pym. Jacques derridas 1967 work of grammatology introduced the majority of ideas influential within deconstruction. In general, deconstruction is a philosophy of meaning, which deals with the ways that meaning is constructed by writers, texts, and readers. Deconstruction definition is a philosophical or critical method which asserts that meanings, metaphysical constructs, and hierarchical oppositions as between key terms in a philosophical or literary work are always rendered unstable by their dependence on ultimately arbitrary signifiers. Deconstruction is breaking something down into smaller parts.
The practical import of this approach is shown in analyses of the ways derrida has been translated into english. Jacques derrida 19302004 was the founder of deconstruction, a way of criticizing not only both literary and philosophical texts but also political institutions. This type of theory seeks to find out the holistic meaning of a piece of work by. Deconstruction has fundamentally overturned the traditional concept of faithfulness. Despite the disconcerting observation of his devastatingly relativist overtone and openendedness, derrida does not uphold complete free play, as is repeatedly pointed out by himself and other scholars. Deconstructionism and literature practice khan academy.
The languagetext must be deconstructive, and that must. They began to question the objective truth of language. Deconstruction and translation by kathleen davis, paperback. Deconstruction literature article about deconstruction. Please learn that there are several approaches to deconstruction. Extending the philosophical excursions of nietzsche and heidegger, derrida criticized the entire tradition of western philosophys search to discover the essential structure of knowledge and reality, ultimately confronting the limits of human. Deconstruction and translation explains ways in which many practical and theoretical problems of translation can be rethought in the light of insights from the french philosopher jacques derrida. However, it is worth recalling that deconstruction s critique is of presence.
Deconstruction is a method of literary analysis that challenges our comfortable assumptions. If there is no one origin, no transcendent meaning, and thus no stable source text, we can no longer talk of translation as meaning. Read download deconstruction in a nutshell pdf pdf book library. Deconstruction and translation by kathleen davis jstor. List of books and articles about deconstruction online research. Which of the following describes a deconstructionist approach. Jul 22, 2014 the implications for translation theory are then elaborated, complicating the desire for translatability and incorporating sharp critique of linguistic and communicative approaches to translation. Deconstruction and translation translation theories. If there is no one origin, no transcendent meaning, and thus no stable source text, we can no longer talk of translation as meaning transfer or as passive reproduction. Deconstruction and translation, translation theories explained vol. How to write a deconstruction paper pen and the pad. Positions, pertinence and the empowerment of the translator article pdf available march 2008 with 201 reads how we measure reads.
The term is particularly associated with the work of the french philosopher jacques derrida who has developed powerful critiques, in particular of phenomenology, saussurean linguistics, structuralism and lacanian psychoanalysis. At the heart of the deconstructionist theory of interpretation are two primary ideas. Deconstruction looks at the smaller parts that were used to create an object. Deconstruction and translation translation theories explored 97818142114. Deconstructions view of language derrida language is not the reliable tool of communication 3. Theory and practice has been acclaimed as by far the most readable, concise and authoritative guide to this topic. Deconstruction is actually a way of reading any text and thereby exposing the instability of meaning which the text tries to cover up. Deconstruction, as kathleen davis reminds us in the introduction to this excellent short book, is not a translation theory. Often dismissed as white devil sophistry, this way of reading, pioneered by hottie jacques derrida, is one of the most rigorouser, hardcoreand useful around. Deconstruction simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Kathleen davis deconstruction and translation 2001. Deconstructions theory of language based on the belief that language is much more slippery and ambiguous. Deconstruction and translation 1st edition kathleen. Derridas approach toa poem is a revelation on many levels, from the most concrete ways of reading for example, his analysis of a sequence of personal pronouns to the most sweeping imperatives of human existence and derridas writings are always a study in the imbrication of such levels.
Abstract this paper sets out to unfold the tale of two contradictory translation theories, that is, the tale of predeconstructionist translation theory and the tale of. Deconstruction and the practice of translation in this article i attempt to show that deconstruction and its practices should not be read as intimations towards plurality or relativism in translation, but should rather be utilised as a powerful analytical tool, a way of reading and writing with heightened awareness. Deconstruction involves the close reading of texts in order to demonstrate that any given text has irreconcilably contradictory meanings, rather than being a unified, logical whole. Popular derrida and deconstruction books showing 121 of 21 spurs. How do i analyze a poem using the deconstructive approach. List of books and articles about deconstruction online. Deconstruction and translation ebook by kathleen davis. When the translation be comes a kind of unsettling aftermath, it affects the original text. Heideggers term referred to a process of exploring the categories and concepts that tradition has imposed on a word, and the history behind them. This paper aims to present an overview of the theoretical positions adopted both within and beyond the translation community regarding the value of deconstruction.
If there is no one origin, no transcendent meaning, and thus no stable source text, we can no longer talk of translation as meaning transfer or as. God is the origin, center and guarantor of meaning. If there is no one origin, no transcendent meaning, and thus no stable source text, we can no longer talk of translation as meaning transfer or as passive. Deconstruction meaning in the cambridge english dictionary. Lastly, on deconstruction by culler is definitely a must read. The analysis of translators from the perspective of deconstruction. A transitive verb is a verb that requires a direct object e.
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