On Palimpsests: How to Use this Concept for Translation Studies. In Memoriam Gérard Genette (1930-2018)

Abstract

This article was written in memoriam Gérard Genette who died on May 11, 2018. The purpose of this article is to honor the work Palimpsests by this famous French scholar and researcher into literature. He has shown manifold ways to deal with different methods of creating a text considering the fact that to almost every text in the history of mankind at least one text preexists. By explaining a huge number of instances how from an older text a newer one can be created, Genette was able to present a systematic approach to all these changes covered by the concept of palimpsest or palimpsestic processes of creating a hypertext from a hypotext. On this concept grounds the basic idea of this article to seek for ways to make the concept of palimpsest applicable to translation studies. This is especially due to the fact that for almost two decades now scholars in translation studies have been complaining about the horribly immense number of terms that are in use amongst the scholars and that almost no consensus in terminology exists or was about to come into life. The positions outlined in this article are about to see beyond one’s nose because it shall be taken for granted that in neighboring research areas and scholarly occupations some well reasoned notions were developed, which are worth to be studied.