Faithful to Whom: Fidelity of Translation as Political QuestionBoris BudenFidelity of translation meant always more than its conformity to the original. German Romantics, before all Wilhelm von Humboldt, discovered its social and political dimension. They redefined translation in terms of its social creativity. Translations from foreign languages enrich translator’s own language and help so to create his or her own nation. To be faithful to the original means in fact to be faithful to one’s own nation. In its last consequence the fidelity of translation is a patriotic virtue, a loyalty to the nation. But what if translation finally betrays the nation and starts to create alternative forms of social and political articulation? Would it be the end of the idea of fidelity or rather its new start? |
Boris Budenconference |