Babel & Logos

Not only are the limits of translatibility a challenge for linguistics and translation studies but they also set up a philosophical problem in its own right. Such a problem dates back to times immemorial, as is materialized by the biblical myth of Babel. Through the use of the Babel & Logos couple as two polysemic figures, I delve into the co-substantial philosophical issues which both develop and even precede the reality of translation. What is the nature of the relations between translation studies and philosophy? Struggling as it does between the universalism of reason (Logos) and the particularism of idioms (Babel), translation definitely has anthropological groundings. What are the philosophical prerequisites for translation seen as inter-cultural communication? Translation raises the issue of the unity or diversity of mankind, as was already hinted at by so many mythological themes. Eventually, I endeavour to point out that translation makes it possible to bring into awareness the concept of “theological unconscious” of modernity — and of translation proper.