ABSTRACT
In Athens, Still Remains, Derrida focuses on a single French expression about death that came to him – or photographed him – and insists on its untranslatability. Yet a close reading of this book shows that this assertion undermines itself at every turn, leading to rich reflections on the closely linked aporia of mourning and translating. These reflections are further developed via readings of Derrida’s many commemorative texts, including The Work of Mourning and Rams. We explore the characteristics of what might be termed mourning-translating, connecting via Derrida’s Shibboleth with Paul Celan’s notion of Dichtung (poetry) as Atemwende (breath-turn). Translating is thus a way of turning towards the other and hearing the other speak, a way of respecting interruptions and silences. It is also intricately connected with Derrida’s messiah-less messianism and as such has an important, if small-scale, political dimension.
