A PROMISSORY NOTE TO JACQUES DERRIDA

Abstract

We now declare the law of translation is on trial. Our argument is based on two texts: O que é uma tradução relevante? [What is a relevant translation?] (DERRIDA, 2000) and O mercador de Veneza/ The Merchant of Venice (SHAKESPEARE, 2013, 2018). There is evidence that everything in Shakespeare’s play may be reflected as translation aspects—for instance the themes of oath, economy calculation, and equity—to the extent that its interpretation is compliant with the law of Derrida (2000). By confronting the texts of both Shakespeare and Derrida, in the first part of the trial session, we present the [legal] scene of translation, underlining the metaphors and contracts represented in Shakespeare’s work. In the second part, we risk our assessment of the case by translating The merchant of Venice. By doing so, we perform the very law of translation. Thirdly, we examine the intrinsic aspects of this law and its ruination. For all the foregoing we sentence that a promise of translation made is a debt unpaid. A debt that cannot be paid in equity. And yet, translation triumphs.