Translation Operations Resulting in a Resignification of the Holocaust. Ideology and Ethics in Its Representation.

Abstract

Representations are by definition acts of resignification, to the extent that the original meaning of the reality which is brought to the present is modelled according to the personal circumstances and worldview of the social agent in charge of the representation. Insofar as language is the vehicle used to shape our worldview, it is inevitable that representations are ideologically biased. In this paper, I intend to analyse, through Holocaust literature translations, some of the resignification operations to which the Nazi genocide has been subjected. In addition to reflecting on the ethical implications of these kinds of interventions, our objective shall be to raise awareness of the image, at times distorted, that exists in the collective imaginary.