1st Edition
The Age of Translation A Commentary on Walter Benjamin’s ‘The Task of the Translator'
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.
Acknowledgements
Translator’s introduction by Chantal Wright
Some textual notes on the translation of Antoine Berman’s commentary
Texts by Walter Benjamin discussed in The Age of Translation
French editor’s note by Isabelle Berman
My seminars at the Collège by Antoine Berman
OVERTURE
Cahier 1
The metaphysics of language
Five characteristics of Benjamin’s thought
Benjamin as translator
‘The Task of the Translator: A prologue’
THE COMMENTARY
Cahier 2
Cahier 3
Cahier 4
Cahier 5
Cahier 6
Cahier 7
Cahier 8
Cahier 9
Cahier 10
Index
Biography
Chantal Wright is Associate Professor at the University of Warwick. She is the author of Literary Translation (Routledge, 2016).
'This is an enormously important work for philosophy and translation studies alike. Wright’s translation and commentary, erudite and unusually self-reflective, illuminate the complex epistemological questions that ground both Berman’s text and his gloss of Benjamin. Wright not only presents Berman’s work as foundational and eminently topical, but persuasively advances the intrinsic relevance of reflecting on translation in philosophical terms.'
Michelle Bolduc, University of Exeter, UK
