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Establishingcommongrounds
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pompous.Theirpresenceconfirmsthepowerfulneedtocommunicate
whichisingrainedinpeopleandtheresultsoftheirworkareindispensa-
bleforafeelingofthecontinuityofourcivilizationandfortransmitting
knowledge.Ifitwasnotfortranslatorswewouldnotknowtheworksof
greatphilosophersfromancientGreece,forexample,andthenameof
Agora,aplacewheretheideaofdemocracywasbornwouldbealienand
meaninglesstothemodernworld.Itisbeyondimaginationtoenvisage
howmuchimpoverishedwewouldhavebeennotknowingtheworksof
greatclassicwriters,novelsbyHugo,Dickens,Dostoyevsky,andwe
knowthembecausetheyweretranslatedandbythatmadeavailable,ac-
cessibletousersofotherlanguagesthantheoriginallanguagetheywere
writtenin.Itistranslatorswhoprovideavitallinkbetweenculturesand
nationsdividedbylanguagesthroughouthistory,althoughtheythem-
selvesremaininvisibleotherwisethaninthetranslationswhichtheypro-
duce(Venuti1995).
AsputbyGentzler(1993:1)translationassocialpracticeis“asoldas
thetowerofBabel”.Ifoneiswillingtotakethebiblicalperspective,
translationservicesbecamerequiredwiththefalloftheTowerofBabel
wherethetonguesweremixedtocreateconfusionandsincethenhumans
becameforeverdestinedtotranslationandsubjectedtotranslation,“tothe
lawofatranslationbothnecessaryandimpossible”(Derrida1992:226).
DerridacontinuesonthesamepagesayingthatafterthefallofBabel,
“Translationbecomeslaw,duty,anddebt,butthedebtonecannolonger
discharge”.NomatterifoneisreadytoacceptthatthefallofBabelat
leastsymbolicallymarkedthebeginningsofthetranslatorprofession,itis
notinfrequentlyreferredtobytranslationtheorists.Steiner(1975),forex-
ampleentitledhisinfluentialworkontranslation,AfterBabel”.Needless
tosaythestoryoftheTowerofBabelitselfhasbecomeknownworldwide
throughtranslation.Inawayonemightsaythatthehistoryofhumancivi-
lizationisalsoahistoryoftranslationandmuchthatweknowaboutitwe
knowthroughtranslationandthismeansweoweourthankstotranslators.
Intoday’sworldtranslatorsareingrowingdemand.Theyaccompany
politiciansontheirforeignvisits,translateliteraryworksassoonasthey
arewrittenbyacknowledgedoriginalwriters,workininternationalbusi-
nessrelations,translateofficialdocumentsandnewsitemsassoonasthey
arereleasedbynewsagenciesthroughouttheworld.Itisthroughtransla-
tionthatnewtechnologicaladvancesaresharedandknowledgeandex-
pertiseachievedinonecountrycanbedisseminatedandusedtoimprove