Translation, Literature, and Madness: the Translated Text and its Discontents. Reflections from Deconstruction

In this paper we explore the relationship between madness, literature, and translation by way of deconstruction, following the thoughts of the French philosopher Jacques Derrida. Firstly, it will be pointed out that translation has been used, literally, as a therapy, and, metaphorically, as a cure for the original text. Authorial deviations from the linguistic and stylistic norm are allowed in source texts, but not to the same extent in translations. Using deconstruction as a conceptual framework, we propose a reconceptualization of the original/translation relationship using the Derridean notion of event. It will be concluded that changing the binomial's dynamics will allow translation to take on a more active and creative role, while acknowledging the responsibility that its task entails