DES TOURS DE BABEL

    In Des Tours de Babel (1985) Derrida addresses the problem caused by translation. He is frustrated with the confusion of language and its various meanings, and chooses the biblical account of the Tower of Babel as an example of this confusion. He begins by breaking down (or deconstructing) the words in the title of his work and giving the different meanings they could have. For example, he ponders the question of whether 'Babel'; is to be taken as a proper name or as a common noun.
    Today Babel is usually associated with confusion. However, if the word is translated and broken down, it has a different meaning. Ba means father and Bel means God. Babel signifies the holy city, or city of God. Derrida argues that the Ancients gave all of their capitals this name. This would mean that the biblical city was called Babel before the confusion occurred. Even so, the name Babel signifies confusion because of the confusion of the builders who could no longer understand each other and/or because the language was confused.
Derrida asks why does God punish the people? Is it because they wanted to build to the heavens or for wanting to accede to the highest and make a name for themselves? He suggests that God punishes them for wanting to assure a unique and universal genealogy by themselves. God causes deconstruction of the tower and scatters the genealogical filiation. This creates the need for language to be translated and simultaneously makes it impossible to be translated.
    Derrida ends this writing with the overview of the impossibility of translating 'Babel'. Should it be considered proper or common? He says man is subjected to a law of translation that is necessary but also impossible. Translation becomes a debt and a duty. However, this duty cannot be carried out as it should be for no one knows for sure which meaning they should go by to make the correct interpretation.
    It is obvious that the problem of translation will not go away. Just as Derrida faced the problems it presents, so do we all today. People will always be trying to translate different languages in order to find out what they mean. Then, as they try to translate, they will find it difficult to know what the correct meaning is and exactly how to interpret. So the legacy of confusion that began in the biblical city of Babel continues on.
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© Tony Angiletta, 1999, Stanford University
© Elvira Gabaldón García, 2000 Universidad de València