Prophets and Pandemonium: creativity in the translating self

Abstract

In Who Translates? Translator Subjectivities beyond Reason, Douglas Robinson (2001) proposes a model of the self that he calls pandemonium. Pandemonium suggests a kind of disaggregated agency in which exterior and interior forces shape and are shaped by each other. As to translator subjectivity, these forces produce competing responses to a source text. This pandemonium model stands in opposition to the Western model, which Robinson considers a “spirit-channeling” model. In this model, the translator has no self; instead, the translator is simply a medium or machine through whom the original author speaks. To illustrate this model, Robinson uses the story of how Joseph Smith produced the Book of Mormon. Robinson then sets Smith aside. This choice is unfortunate, for Smith’s story actually presents an interesting test case for the pandemonium model. Rather than a case of classic channeling, Smith’s story represents a kind of creativity that successful translators need.