ABSTRACT
Deconstruction puts basic elements of western philosophical, or metaphysical, tradition into question, particularly the conceptualization of meaning as a presence that can exist outside or before language, and that can be transferred unchanged between languages. Directly and indirectly, the challenges posed by deconstructive readings have altered understandings of the cultural, institutional and political conditions in which translation occurs. Deconstruction rethinks many issues crucial to translation, some of which will be discussed under topics: differance, text and writing and iterability. In order to express the differential movement of language succinctly, Jacques Derrida coined the neologism differance. Following through on the implications of differance, Derrida uses some terms, such as text and writing, in a revised sense. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s Derrida’s critique focused strongly on issues of language and translation. Derrida also stresses that there is no clear-cut boundary between speech and writing as it is conventionally understood.
