The Contributions Of Walter Benjamin And Franz Rosenzweig

Being Jewish thinkers and talented translators, both Walter Benjamin (1892-1940) and Franz Rosenzweig (1886–1929) have their views and influence on the theories of language and translation in the modern period. They have introduced momentous contributions in the field of language and theory of translation. Benjamin is best known for his magna opera, On Language as Such and on the Language of Man (1916) and The Task of the Translator (1923). The former essay deals directly with the linguistic theory; the latter is concerned with the translation theory as a form of art. The latter is also an extension of the former inasmuch as he provides a new theory of translation based on the relation between languages itself and their essence. Basically, in both essays, Benjamin addresses the relationships not only between languages but also between language and human beings (Smerick 48). Rosenzweig is numero uno for his monumental work, the Star of Redemption (1921) in which he endeavors to articulate the relation between creation and redemption. The Star provides a comprehensive account of the variety of human languages based on its root as speech inherent in every human being from the time of creation, and more …show more content…
For example, in Rosenzweig’s translation, the Hebrew Grace after Meal, he “adopts the rhythm of German exactly to the traditional Hebrew melody” (E.R. Freund 66-67). For him, poems are not intended for the sake of the readers (audiences) to be read, but rather they should be for being recited and heard. Here Rosenzweig places an extreme significance of spoken words in which he points out to his concept “speech thinking.” That is, reciting the verses and listening to them is the innermost goal for translation. This eludes that the aesthetic values have to be preserved in