THE AGE OF TRANSLATION The Age of Translation is the first English translation of Antoine Berman’s commentary on Walter Benjamin’s seminal essay ‘The Task of the Translator’. Chantal Wright’s translation includes an introduction which positions the text in relation to current developments in translation studies, and provides prefatory explanations before each section as a guide to Walter Benjamin’s ideas. These include influential concepts such as the ‘afterlife’ of literary works, the ‘kinship’ of languages, and the metaphysical notion of ‘pure language’. The Age of Translation is a vital read for students and scholars in the fields of translation studies, literary studies, cultural studies and philosophy. Chantal Wright is Associate Professor at the University of Warwick. She is the author of Literary Translation (Routledge, 2016). THE AGE OF TRANSLATION A Commentary on Walter Benjamin’s ‘The Task of the Translator’ L’Âge de la traduction: <<La tâche du traducteur>> de Walter Benjamin, un commentaire Antoine Berman, Isabelle Berman and Valentina Sommella TRANSLATED AND WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY CHANTAL WRIGHT This translation published 2018 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Original edition © 2008 Presses Universitaires de Vincennes, Saint- Denis English language translation © 2018 Chantal Wright All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Original edition published by Presses Universitaires de Vincennes 2008 in French as L’Âge de la traduction: <<La tâche du traducteur>> de Walter Benjamin, un commentaire British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data A catalog record has been requested for this title ISBN: 978-1 -1 38-8 8630- 8 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1 -1 38-8 8631- 5 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1 -3 15-7 1493- 6 (ebk) Typeset in Bembo by Out of House Publishing Confrontation pensante de deux langues, le commentaire ne peut se traduire. Ceci est peut- être digne de réflexion. Commentary, a thinking confrontation between two languages, cannot be translated. We might do well to ponder this. Antoine Berman CONTENTS Acknowledgements ix Translator’s introduction by Chantal Wright 1 Some textual notes on the translation of Antoine Berman’s commentary 10 Texts by Walter Benjamin discussed in The Age of Translation 13 French editor’s note by Isabelle Berman 16 My seminars at the Collège by Antoine Berman 18 OVERTURE 23 Cahier 1 25 The metaphysics of language 30 Five characteristics of Benjamin’s thought 32 Benjamin as translator 36 ‘The Task of the Translator’: a prologue 39 THE COMMENTARY 51 Cahier 2 53 Cahier 3 74 viii Contents Cahier 4 99 Cahier 5 114 Cahier 6 135 Cahier 7 151 Cahier 8 167 Cahier 9 181 Cahier 10 201 Index 212 newgenprepdf ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My sincere thanks go to Isabelle Berman, Valentina Sommella and the Presses Universitaires de Vincennes, and in particular to Zoulikha Bendahmane, for granting the rights to the English-l anguage translation of Antoine Berman’s text. I would also like to thank Fernando Concha Correa, Corinne Prigent and David McCallam, Johannes Haubold, and Joe Peschio, for answering questions relating to Spanish, French, Ancient Greek and Russian respectively. My thanks to Jean Boase- Beier for kindly sharing a pre-p ublication copy of her essay on Walter Benjamin, and to Paul Michael Lützeler for identifying the text on translation by Hermann Broch that Antoine Berman mentions in his commentary. I would also like to thank Lawrence Venuti, Karen Van Dyck, Maureen Freely and Cecilia Rossi for conversations and encouragement at various stages along the way. With much grat- itude to my editor Michelle Bolduc for her insightful comments on the manu- script and to Laura Sandford, Hannah Rowe and Louisa Semlyen at Routledge. My thanks also to Tina Lupton and Heiko Henkel for their generosity in enabling a highly unofficial translation residency at the Black Diamond in Copenhagen in 2017. Finally, to Dan Vyleta, thank you for enthusiastically puzzling over Benjamin’s syntax with me and for understanding the value of this commentary. Ja, und mit dem Hölderlin hätten wir noch ein Hühnchen zu rupfen.