Debate on Walter Benjamin and Translation

It has been over one hundred years since the original publication of Walter Benjamin's essay “The Task of the Translator”, considered a central text of the twentieth century on translation. In a public debate, held on 20 February 2024, the philosopher Antonio Aguilera, the sociologist Esperança Bielsa and the translator Fruela Fernández discussed their recent collaboration in the book Benjamin y la traducción (Ediciones del Subsuelo, 2024). Bielsa and Aguilera co-authored the book, which also provided new translations (by Fernández) of the three texts that Benjamin wrote on translation at different times in his career. Researcher Mattea Cussel chaired the debate. They discussed the importance of translation in Walter Benjamin’s work, while reflecting on how the dual and enduring task of interpreting and translating Benjamin helps us illuminate the present. Benjamin y la traducción and the debate documented here offer an actualisation of Benjamin’s work that puts translation at the centre, a ubiquitous social activity that many philosophers and sociologists underestimate or ignore, but in which, as Benjamin recognised, the key to our survival may be found. This is a transcription into English of the debate, which was held in Catalan and Spanish at the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB). It is followed by the last chapter from the book Benjamin y la traducción, titled “Theses on translation” (Tesis sobre la traducción).Consult the original version of this article in Catalan and Castilian HERE.