The scene of Babel

Abstract

Jacques Derrida's texts pose specific and notoriously complex challenges for the translator. In particular, the performative nature of his writing makes the transfer of meaning and rhetorical effects especially difficult to negotiate. This paper examines Joseph F. Graham's English version of “Des Tours de Babel”, arguably Derrida's most influential text on translation. In a translator's note, Graham acknowledges the limitations of his version and claims – despite these limitations, or precisely because of them – to have succeeded in enacting Derrida's ideas on translation. My paper examines the implications of this claim and asks: first, what are the “principles” derived from the source text that Graham sees as taking shape in his translation and “guiding” it; second, how does the performativity invoked by Graham, if it is at all present, come about in his translation; and third, is Graham's stated approach borne out by his translation choices? It is not my concern to reach an evaluative judgment on Graham's translation, but rather to trace the workings of this peculiar Babelian scene.