Now It’s Time To Leave The Capsule: Translating Beyond Europe

In its everyday functioning The European Union relies massively on all sorts of translations, yet officially it denies this fact: According to its language rule there are no translations in the European Union. Every document it produces is original already. Thus, Europe is more than a translational space. It is the space of a disavowed translation. We cannot therefore avoid the question: Why does Europe fear translation? Is it only because it clearly reveals intrinsic deficits and traumatic contradictions of a particularly European project of transnational democracy, or rather because it pushes our political imagination far beyond the limits of the actually existing European democracy?

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Boris Buden studied philosophy in Zagreb and cultural studies at HU Berlin. In the 90s he was editor in the magazine Arkzin, Zagreb. His essays and articles cover topics of philosophy, politics, cultural and art criticism. Among his translations into Croatian are two books of Sigmund Freud. Buden is the author of Barikade, Zagreb 1996/1997, Kaptolski Kolodvor, Beograd 2001 and Der Schacht von Babel, Berlin 2004, (Vavilonska jama, Beograd 2007).

Boris Buden studierte Philosophie in Zagreb und Cultural Studies an der HU Berlin. In den 1990ern war er Herausgeber der Zeitschrift Arkzin, Zagreb. Seine Essays und Artikel umfassen Themen der Philosophie, Politik, Kultur- und Kunstkritik. Unter seinen Übersetzungen ins Kroatische finden sich zwei Bücher von Sigmund Freud. Buden ist Autor von Barikade, Zagreb 1996/1997, Kaptolski Kolodvor, Belgrad 2001 und Der Schacht von Babel, Berlin 2004 (Vavilonska jama, Belgrad 2007).