Derridian-inspired ideas for the conduct of translators

The article aims to show that ‘deconstruction’ can be useful to practising translators. It is important not to proff er generalizations about ‘deconstruction’, but to study specific texts. I initially review Philip Lewis’ ideas before going on to show how Jacques Derrida’s text "Force de loi" (Derrida 1990) is a preferable text for our purposes. Ideas from "Force de loi", in particular the notion of a just decision, inspire flexible guidelines for the conduct of translators. The main features are the following: making decisions which take into account the source text as a whole and the translational situation as a whole with its many facets; not sticking blindly to pre-determined translational strategies but responding to the specifi city of the translational situation; making decisions which take into account both rules and protocols, and the incalculable singularity of the translation event; and adopting a critical attitude towards established social norms if required by the particular translational situation.