![• WALTER BENDIX SCHÖNFLIES BENJAMIN (/ˈBƐNJƏMɪN/; GERMAN: [ˈVALTⱯ ˈBƐNJAMIːN];[5] 15 JULY 1892 – 26
SEPTEMBER 1940)[6] WAS A GERMAN JEWISH PHILOSOPHER, CULTURAL CRITIC AND ESSAYIST. AN ECLECTIC
THINKER, COMBINING ELEMENTS OF GERMAN IDEALISM, ROMANTICISM, WESTERN MARXISM, AND JEWISH
MYSTICISM, BENJAMIN MADE ENDURING AND INFLUENTIAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO AESTHETIC THEORY,
LITERARY CRITICISM, AND HISTORICAL MATERIALISM. HE WAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE FRANKFURT SCHOOL,
AND ALSO MAINTAINED FORMATIVE FRIENDSHIPS WITH THINKERS SUCH AS PLAYWRIGHT BERTOLT BRECHT
AND KABBALAH SCHOLAR GERSHOM SCHOLEM. HE WAS ALSO RELATED TO GERMAN POLITICAL THEORIST
AND PHILOSOPHER HANNAH ARENDT THROUGH HER FIRST MARRIAGE TO BENJAMIN'S COUSIN GÜNTHER
ANDERS.
• AMONG BENJAMIN'S BEST KNOWN WORKS ARE THE ESSAYS "THE TASK OF THE TRANSLATOR" (1923), "THE
WORK OF ART IN THE AGE OF MECHANICAL REPRODUCTION" (1935), AND "THESES ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF
HISTORY" (1940). HIS MAJOR WORK AS A LITERARY CRITIC INCLUDED ESSAYS ON BAUDELAIRE, GOETHE,
KAFKA, KRAUS, LESKOV, PROUST, WALSER, AND TRANSLATION THEORY. HE ALSO MADE MAJOR
TRANSLATIONS INTO GERMAN OF THE TABLEAUX PARISIENS SECTION OF BAUDELAIRE'S LES FLEURS DU MAL
AND PARTS OF PROUST'S À LA RECHERCHE DU TEMPS PERDU. IN 1940, AT THE AGE OF 48, BENJAMIN
COMMITTED SUICIDE AT PORTBOU ON THE FRENCH–SPANISH BORDER WHILE ATTEMPTING TO ESCAPE
FROM THE INVADING WEHRMACHT. THOUGH POPULAR ACCLAIM ELUDED HIM DURING HIS LIFE, THE](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
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- 1. WALTER BENJAMIN’S “THE TASK OF THE TRANSLATOR”
- 2. • WALTER BENDIX SCHÖNFLIES BENJAMIN (/ˈBƐNJƏMɪN/; GERMAN: [ˈVALTⱯ ˈBƐNJAMIːN];[5] 15 JULY 1892 – 26 SEPTEMBER 1940)[6] WAS A GERMAN JEWISH PHILOSOPHER, CULTURAL CRITIC AND ESSAYIST. AN ECLECTIC THINKER, COMBINING ELEMENTS OF GERMAN IDEALISM, ROMANTICISM, WESTERN MARXISM, AND JEWISH MYSTICISM, BENJAMIN MADE ENDURING AND INFLUENTIAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO AESTHETIC THEORY, LITERARY CRITICISM, AND HISTORICAL MATERIALISM. HE WAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE FRANKFURT SCHOOL, AND ALSO MAINTAINED FORMATIVE FRIENDSHIPS WITH THINKERS SUCH AS PLAYWRIGHT BERTOLT BRECHT AND KABBALAH SCHOLAR GERSHOM SCHOLEM. HE WAS ALSO RELATED TO GERMAN POLITICAL THEORIST AND PHILOSOPHER HANNAH ARENDT THROUGH HER FIRST MARRIAGE TO BENJAMIN'S COUSIN GÜNTHER ANDERS. • AMONG BENJAMIN'S BEST KNOWN WORKS ARE THE ESSAYS "THE TASK OF THE TRANSLATOR" (1923), "THE WORK OF ART IN THE AGE OF MECHANICAL REPRODUCTION" (1935), AND "THESES ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY" (1940). HIS MAJOR WORK AS A LITERARY CRITIC INCLUDED ESSAYS ON BAUDELAIRE, GOETHE, KAFKA, KRAUS, LESKOV, PROUST, WALSER, AND TRANSLATION THEORY. HE ALSO MADE MAJOR TRANSLATIONS INTO GERMAN OF THE TABLEAUX PARISIENS SECTION OF BAUDELAIRE'S LES FLEURS DU MAL AND PARTS OF PROUST'S À LA RECHERCHE DU TEMPS PERDU. IN 1940, AT THE AGE OF 48, BENJAMIN COMMITTED SUICIDE AT PORTBOU ON THE FRENCH–SPANISH BORDER WHILE ATTEMPTING TO ESCAPE FROM THE INVADING WEHRMACHT. THOUGH POPULAR ACCLAIM ELUDED HIM DURING HIS LIFE, THE
- 3. • WHAT IS TRANSLATABILITY? • DISTINCTION BETWEEN GOOD TRANSLATION AND BAD TRANSLATION. • THE CONCEPTS OF IDEALITY AND FREEDOM IN TRANSLATION. • KINSHIP OF LANGUAGES. • TRANSLATION AS A TRANSMISSION OF ORIGINAL TEXT. • TRANSLATION IN TERMS OF PURE LANGUAGE.
- 4. • The task of the translator Benjamin starts his essay by: “in the appreciation of a work of art or an art form, consideration of the receiver never proves fruitful….no poem is intended for the reader, no picture for the beholder, no symphony for the listener.” (bw, 253).