Translating with ‘differance’: The Old Testament as a case study

This paper investigates the importance of deconstruction and its differance in the translatability of the linguistic sign represented by different Biblical versions. It is divided into six parts and a conclusion. The first part defines differance with particular reference to deconstruction and structuralism and their manifestations in the Biblical translations. The second part discusses the relevance of deconstruction and its practices to the linguistic and translation theory by making use of the ideas of Jacque Derrida, Kathlene Davis, Lawrence Venutti, along with the semantic and pragmatic thrust. The third part employs different Biblical passages that reflect the different assumptions put forward by the hypothesis of differance. The study ends with a critical account of the motivated choices of translators influenced by the metaphysics of the American context that ideologically uses the Biblical signs for dehumanizing intentions.