The translator’s language and Benveniste’s untranslatables: Dernières leçons in Brazil

This article reflects on the Brazilian translation of the work Dernières leçons [Últimas aulas in Portuguese; Last lectures in English], by linguist Émile Benveniste, based on the notion of “untranslatables”, developed by Barbara Cassin, articulated with the idea proposed by Benveniste himself, included in the 1958 article titled “Categories of thought and language”, that the analysis of a language – and we include the translation of that language into that concept – does not factor out the fact that this type of study (translation) takes into account the language of those carrying out the analysis (or translation). Based on this set of ideas, we propose that the translator, conceived as a speaker of a language, plays a fundamental role in the translation process. The article also aims to understand to what extent the transmission produced by the translation of Benveniste’s work into Portuguese interferes with the transmitted thought. Finally, some particularities of the Brazilian translation of Benveniste’s work are analyzed in view of the theoretical framework herein.

Keywords
translator; untranslatables; Émile Benveniste; languages; translation process