Deconstruction and Translation explains ways in which many practical and theoretical problems of translation can be rethought in the light of insights from the French philosopher Jacques Derrida. If there is no one origin, no transcendent meaning, and thus no stable source text, we can no longer talk of translation as meaning transfer or as passive reproduction. Kathleen Davis instead refers to the translator's freedom and individual responsibility. Her survey of this complex field begins from an analysis of the proper name as a model for the problem of signification and explains...

By examining periodization together with the two controversial categories of feudalism and secularization, Kathleen Davis exposes the relationship between the constitution of "the Middle Ages" and the history of sovereignty, slavery, and colonialism.