The subject of the essay is Europe, translation and the relationship of both to hospitality. Any act of translation as such should consitute an "act of hospitality".The essay centers also on Derrida's statement (2005a, 67) :hospitality is “an art and a poetics,”. Does Derrida mean that it pertains first of all to the domain of the aesthetic, or should we say that for Derrida the aesthetic stance should precede the ethical and political stance, or that aesthetic constructions are forbearers of, and give shape to, ethical and political stances? In order to unconditionally host the other’s tongue, the translator, who knows how it feels to live in the discomfort zone where you cannot fi nd the words to express name and needs, should practice a constant journey between his own familiar native language and the guest’s dislocated and nameless one. In so doing, he or she is able to off er a pattern for new and diverse laws of hospitality, thus saving hospitality from being reduced to one unique form and venturing beyond any “faithfulness” to his own national- hosting language, culture, and law. Thus translation provides the opportunity to circumvent the state’s restrictions to unconditional hospitality and to invent new forms of hospitality that arise from cross- cultural and transcultural contacts.
The Art and Poetics of Translation as Hospitality
ZACCARIA, Paola
2013-01-01
Abstract
The subject of the essay is Europe, translation and the relationship of both to hospitality. Any act of translation as such should consitute an "act of hospitality".The essay centers also on Derrida's statement (2005a, 67) :hospitality is “an art and a poetics,”. Does Derrida mean that it pertains first of all to the domain of the aesthetic, or should we say that for Derrida the aesthetic stance should precede the ethical and political stance, or that aesthetic constructions are forbearers of, and give shape to, ethical and political stances? In order to unconditionally host the other’s tongue, the translator, who knows how it feels to live in the discomfort zone where you cannot fi nd the words to express name and needs, should practice a constant journey between his own familiar native language and the guest’s dislocated and nameless one. In so doing, he or she is able to off er a pattern for new and diverse laws of hospitality, thus saving hospitality from being reduced to one unique form and venturing beyond any “faithfulness” to his own national- hosting language, culture, and law. Thus translation provides the opportunity to circumvent the state’s restrictions to unconditional hospitality and to invent new forms of hospitality that arise from cross- cultural and transcultural contacts.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
