@article{ART003204597},
author={Kyouhyun Park},
title={Maurice Blanchot and Walter Benjamin - With Focus on the Ideas of ‘Translation’and ‘Ultimate Language’ -},
journal={Journal of Humanities},
issn={1598-8457},
year={2025},
number={97},
pages={153-179}
TY - JOUR
AU - Kyouhyun Park
TI - Maurice Blanchot and Walter Benjamin - With Focus on the Ideas of ‘Translation’and ‘Ultimate Language’ -
JO - Journal of Humanities
PY - 2025
VL - null
IS - 97
PB - Institute for Humanities
SP - 153
EP - 179
SN - 1598-8457
AB - This study has attempted to examine the points of intersection in the thoughts of Maurice Blanchot and Walter Benjamin while maintaining their respective independent perspectives, and focused on the issues of ‘translation’ and ‘ultimate language’ as two of the major ideas that are worthy of note.
Benjamin showed his passion for translating the works by Proust and Baudelaire. When he translated a part of Baudelaire’s poetry collection “Tableaux Parisiens (Paris Scenes)” in the early 1920s, he wrote a short essay titled “The Task of the Translator” as the preface to the book. Blanchot’s commentary titled "Translating" on this article is the only one that can objectively examine the connection between the two authors’ thoughts. Blanchot also translated several German works, including those by Kafka, into French, so "Translating" contains his interpretation of Benjamin’s view on translation, along with his reflections on it. In this study, first, we carefully read Benjamin’s “The Task of the Translator” to examine what he meant by “translation,” and to reveal that “translation” is ultimately related to “ultimate language,” or “pure language,” according to Benjamin. Then, based on the comments of Blanchot, who consented to Benjamin with regard to the latter’s idea of the ‘ultimate language,’ we tried to find the intersection of their thoughts. In particular, we examined the relationship between Benjamin’s ultimate language and Blanchot’s thoughts on the book: the “absence of the book (the book’s own self-undoing)” and its “non-presence (ambiguity and instability inherent in language).” Finally, I have examined a kind of messianic view of language that is commonly shown in the ideas of both Blanchot and Benjamin. Both of them had biblical texts as their basis for thinking about translation and ultimate language, and they had a messianic view of language that considered the unity of language and revelation. For them, the task of translation aimed at pursuing ultimate language was a task and a mission toward messianic infinity.
KW - Maurice Blanchot;Walter Benjamin;Translation;Ultimate Language;Book as Non-presence
DO -
UR -
ER -
Kyouhyun Park. (2025). Maurice Blanchot and Walter Benjamin - With Focus on the Ideas of ‘Translation’and ‘Ultimate Language’ -. Journal of Humanities, 97, 153-179.
Kyouhyun Park. 2025, "Maurice Blanchot and Walter Benjamin - With Focus on the Ideas of ‘Translation’and ‘Ultimate Language’ -", Journal of Humanities, no.97, pp.153-179.
Kyouhyun Park "Maurice Blanchot and Walter Benjamin - With Focus on the Ideas of ‘Translation’and ‘Ultimate Language’ -" Journal of Humanities 97 pp.153-179 (2025) : 153.
Kyouhyun Park. Maurice Blanchot and Walter Benjamin - With Focus on the Ideas of ‘Translation’and ‘Ultimate Language’ -. 2025; 97 : 153-179.
Kyouhyun Park. "Maurice Blanchot and Walter Benjamin - With Focus on the Ideas of ‘Translation’and ‘Ultimate Language’ -" Journal of Humanities no.97(2025) : 153-179.
Kyouhyun Park. Maurice Blanchot and Walter Benjamin - With Focus on the Ideas of ‘Translation’and ‘Ultimate Language’ -. Journal of Humanities, 97, 153-179.
Kyouhyun Park. Maurice Blanchot and Walter Benjamin - With Focus on the Ideas of ‘Translation’and ‘Ultimate Language’ -. Journal of Humanities. 2025; 97 153-179.
Kyouhyun Park. Maurice Blanchot and Walter Benjamin - With Focus on the Ideas of ‘Translation’and ‘Ultimate Language’ -. 2025; 97 : 153-179.
Kyouhyun Park. "Maurice Blanchot and Walter Benjamin - With Focus on the Ideas of ‘Translation’and ‘Ultimate Language’ -" Journal of Humanities no.97(2025) : 153-179.
