Translation, the Inn of the Remote

The French translation theorist Antoine
 Berman invited us to view translation as the«inn of the remote» (l’auberge du lointain), recalling the reference by Jaufré Rudel,the medieval troubadour, to l'ostal de lonh. Hundreds of definitions of translation have been suggested, but this one offers particular scope; in effect, since the dawn of humankind, translators and interpreters have helped surmount the barriers of remoteness. In the words of Santiago Kovadloff, the ability to translate is «a gift that facilitates proximity», turning the other into a neighbour, thus translating means offering others that marvellous singularity of the neighbour, which they could otherwise not enjoy. In other words, he views translation as a service that encourages coexistence: As well as helping us recognise that the world of the other is not inscrutable, it tells us that it holds something of interest to us too, insofar as it reveals what we are.