Judith Butler: A formidable translation “mistake” (second part)

This article analyzes the Argentinean translation of the book Who Sings the Nation-State?, by Butler and Spivak, a book that examines the relationship between translation and national anthem, so as to suggest the possibility of nationalism related to specific political manifestations. Despite its ow...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Milone, Jerônimo
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2020
País:Brasil
Institución:Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS)
Repositorio:Veritas (Porto Alegre. Online)
Idioma:portugués
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.revistaseletronicas.pucrs.br:article/38662
Acceso en línea:https://revistaseletronicas.pucrs.br/veritas/article/view/38662
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Politics of Translation
Judith Butler
Nationalism
Responsibility
Políticas de la traducción
Nacionalismo
Responsabilidad
Políticas da tradução
Responsabilidade
Descripción
Sumario:This article analyzes the Argentinean translation of the book Who Sings the Nation-State?, by Butler and Spivak, a book that examines the relationship between translation and national anthem, so as to suggest the possibility of nationalism related to specific political manifestations. Despite its own insistence on the necessity of an incli-nation to sing the anthem, however, in the English original edition commits a “mistake” in the transcription of “Il [sic] pueblo unido jamás sera [sic] vencido”. But what if this were no simple accident, but an intended “mistake”, a performative contradiction? With what incli-nation, that is, might Butler have quoted this song? And what meaning can be ascribed to the fact that, while we might, on the one hand, suspect the political manifestations described by the book to be a form of nationalism, on the other hand, this seems not to be the case, since the Argentinean translation “corrects” these mistakes and, at the same time, testifies, in a footnote, that the quotations are “En español en el original”? By analyzing these dead ends of translation, this article aims to indicate the political consequences of the task of the translator, and the ways in which literature transgresses grammar.