Traduction et politique. J. Derrida lecteur de la philosophie benjaminienne du langage

Abstract

The aim of this article is to evaluate the impact of the benjaminian philosophy of language on Derrida’s work, mainly on his political aspect. We would like to argue that Benjamin’s essay about translation «The task of the translator’» and Derrida’s meticulous reading of it in the article «Des tours de Babel» (Babel towers) might be useful to think the main political challenges that contemporary philosophy is facing. Considering the fact that translation might be understood in a conservative way, as a « colonial » transfert of the authority of one language into another, Benjamin’s non-utilitarist conception of translation might lead to a new conception of the «relatedness» between languages. The deconstruction of the natural scheme usually founding the concept of «relatedness», used to metaphorically conceptualize relationships between citizens or states may on that perspective offer us a new comprehension of what «community» means.