In thinking about the various essays and articles
included in this volume, l have been tempted to call
this preface by several different names. First l
thought of entitling it "Armchair Ruminations on
the Art of Translation" in honor of those English
philosophers who engaged in "armchair linguistics"
in the 1950s. Then, to paraphrase Eliot, l came up
with "To Criticize the (Translation) Critic", since
much of what appears in this volume is, in one way
or another, concerned with the criticism of
translations. Finally, however, it seemed to me
that the best title was "The Quest for the Perfect
Translation," which corresponds roughly to "The
Pot of Gold at the End of the Rainbow."
The titles are not merely facetious, as will
become clear in the course of the following
remarks. Translation theorists, translators and
translation critics are all actively engaged on a
spiritual and intellectual adventure, in which the
Holy Grail that they are seeking is knowledge, as
precious as the golden fleece and as maddeningly
impossible to discover as the philosopher's stones.
