A Critical Analysis of Benjamin's Translation Theory:the Study of Textual Values of the Task of the Translator

Walter Benjamin's conception of "pure language" subverts traditional views on some basic translation issues including the original text and the translated text, literal translation, as well as translatability. This paper summarized the subversion of traditional views by pure language translation theory in three aspects: it retorts the emphasis on translating meaning, eliminates the antithesis between source text and translated text, and suspends the dichotomy between translatability and untranslatability. Under the guidance of this theory, the author tries to explore this essay's contemporary relevance to translation studies and practices. The study revealed that it was possible to show the kinship and complementarity between languages so as to release and convert pure language in literary translation.