Let us point to Africa before we begin. Because historically it has be treated as a scandal, Africa makes theory visible. In our case, for exam it makes clear, in tranquillity as well as in violence, that a nation is identical with a language. Let us think also of the itinerary of the eth in the Buddhist diasporas and the vicissitudes of imperial knowledge the translation enterprises of the Arabo-Persian empires. These rem ers stand as narratives that would annul many of the commonly presuppositions that support varieties of dominant translation theor Even attempting such rethinking, we should remember that, whe much is published on the westward translating arm of the Arabs, litt published on the eastward arm. Let us begin, then, with an appeal fo person with knowledge not only of Arabic, Persian, and Sanskrit but of Pahlavi.

The best gift of all enlightenments is reasonable doubt. The best gu antee of all worldliness is attention to space and time. The title of the Presidential Forum invokes Walter Benjamin as well Paul de Man's Messenger Lecture, a reading of Benjamin. It also invok Benjamin's book The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction 251-83)-I deliberately choose the mistranslated title that has passed i common currency to show how much power an English wields. Thes great texts caught in a historical moment. Our moment, speaking thr us as reasoned spontaneity, produces a difference. Our collective t