Absence and presence

translators and prefaces

Michelle Bolduc

pp. 351-375

in: Missing Type: multi-volume

Abstract

Based on Bolduc's experience of translating an "absent" preface—that is, the preface written by Chaïm Perelman to his Empire rhétorique (1977) but omitted from the English translation, Realm of Rhetoric (1982)—she explores here the play of absence and presence in relation to the genre of the preface and the practice of translation. Perelman's preface, and its absence in the English translation, raises questions not only about the nature of the preface in philosophical works, but also about the nature of the translator preface in philosophical translation. Moreover, Perelman's own definition of "presence" as essentially rhetorical offers both an elucidation of why his preface was not initially translated, and a means of evaluating, and even constructing, the presence of the translator.

Cited authors

Perelman Chaïm