Dust in translation.

Manifesto for an explosive theory of translation

Abstract

This essay rethinks the act of literary translation through the lens of metaphorical detonation, drawing on figures such as Joyce, Blanchot, and Benjamin to suggest that translation is less a bridge than an explosive disruption. The translator emerges as both alchemist and saboteur—one who dismantles the textual edifice to unleash new semantic energies. Framing translation as a dream-like, quantum event, the piece challenges conventional notions of fidelity, proposing instead a vision of translation as interpretive reincarnation and ongoing metamorphosis.
This manifesto proposes an “explosive theory of translation,” reimagining literary translation not as a bridge between languages but as an act of creative sabotage that dismantles the original text to release its latent semantic energies. The essay frames translation as a metamorphic process akin to interpretive reincarnation rather than preservation. The translator emerges as one who navigates the instability of language, embracing fragmentation, and wielding entropy as a generative force. In this vision, translation becomes an act of radical literary insurgency, one that honors the fluidity of meaning and life itself.