Subject
Derrida on Nabokov's "Pale Fire"
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EDITOR'S NOTE. The April12, 2002 issue of theLOS ANGELES TIMES
carried a story by Reed Johnson about the formation of an "International
Center for Writing and Translation" at the Irvine campus of the
University of Californa. Among the luminaries was JAcques Derrida, the
Godfather of deconstructionist lit. theory. Inter alia, he (or perhaps
the journalist) elucidates a point by reference to PALE FIRE. I excertp
the relevant passge. The full text is available at"
http://www.latimes.com/features/lifestyle/la-000026014apr12.story?coll=la-headlines-living-manual
Derrida, 71, a UCI faculty member since 1986 and author of
more
than 50 books on literature, Marxism, psychoanalysis and other
subjects,
elaborated some of his philosophical concerns with converting one
language
into another. These stem from his influential theories about language
in general, about the ultimate indeterminacy of what words mean. Of the
hundreds of thousands of words he has written, Derrida's most famous
undoubtedly are contained in his
assertion that "there is nothing outside the text." That is, the words,
and hence
the meaning, of any given text--a book, a poem, a recipe, a computer
manual--are, in a sense, self-contained and hermetically sealed. They
can only
be properly said to refer to themselves, not to the "things" in the
outside world
they supposedly refer to.
Translation, like any form of literary
interpretation, is subject in Derrida's view to manipulation and
"contamination" by foreign values and biases, whether by intention
or subconsciously. Vladimir Nabokov memorably satirized this
sometimes comically convoluted process in his novel "Pale Fire," in
which a
fawningly envious foreign-born editor willfully misconstrues a famous
American
poet's work. At the same time, Derrida has said, the only people who
truly
"know how to read and write are translators."
Looking natty in a gray pinstriped suit, Derrida
spoke about translation at a free public gathering last week on
campus.vn
carried a story by Reed Johnson about the formation of an "International
Center for Writing and Translation" at the Irvine campus of the
University of Californa. Among the luminaries was JAcques Derrida, the
Godfather of deconstructionist lit. theory. Inter alia, he (or perhaps
the journalist) elucidates a point by reference to PALE FIRE. I excertp
the relevant passge. The full text is available at"
http://www.latimes.com/features/lifestyle/la-000026014apr12.story?coll=la-headlines-living-manual
Derrida, 71, a UCI faculty member since 1986 and author of
more
than 50 books on literature, Marxism, psychoanalysis and other
subjects,
elaborated some of his philosophical concerns with converting one
language
into another. These stem from his influential theories about language
in general, about the ultimate indeterminacy of what words mean. Of the
hundreds of thousands of words he has written, Derrida's most famous
undoubtedly are contained in his
assertion that "there is nothing outside the text." That is, the words,
and hence
the meaning, of any given text--a book, a poem, a recipe, a computer
manual--are, in a sense, self-contained and hermetically sealed. They
can only
be properly said to refer to themselves, not to the "things" in the
outside world
they supposedly refer to.
Translation, like any form of literary
interpretation, is subject in Derrida's view to manipulation and
"contamination" by foreign values and biases, whether by intention
or subconsciously. Vladimir Nabokov memorably satirized this
sometimes comically convoluted process in his novel "Pale Fire," in
which a
fawningly envious foreign-born editor willfully misconstrues a famous
American
poet's work. At the same time, Derrida has said, the only people who
truly
"know how to read and write are translators."
Looking natty in a gray pinstriped suit, Derrida
spoke about translation at a free public gathering last week on
campus.vn