Deconstructionist and poststructuralist translation approaches: overview and critique

• Main Author: Bolaños Cuellar Sergio
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidad Nacional de Colombia 2008-06-01
• Series: Forma y Función
• Subjects: deconstruction and translation studies; poststructuralism and translation studies; deconstructionist critique; poststructuralist critique
• Online Access: http://www.revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/formayfuncion/article/view/18134

It has become a commonplace to believe that deconstructionist and poststructuralist views on translation have opened new perspectives in Translation Studies. In this paper, I attempt to show what the main tenets by the main authors in these theories are (Benjamin, Derrida, Berman, Venuti). I also try to show the line of thought that goes from Benjamin to Berman and Derrida and then to Venuti. Likewise, I focus my attention especially on a well-known controversy between Derrida and Searle on key aspects of language meaning. In the second part of the paper, I present the main criticisms made by Newmark, Pym, Searle, Arrojo, and Tymoczko, among others, to the deconstructionist and poststructuralist translation views of interpretation. Finally, I draw some conclusions.