Can (Re-)Translation Help Gain New Insights On A Text ?

Translation has long been the object of research for numerous researchers, critics, theoreticians, academics and, of course, translators themselves. The numerous theories, trends, lines and schools of research do not represent the topic of this short paper, but the very act of translating, and that of re-translating a text. What are the gains of doing such work? Can it be applied to literary texts only or is there a wider range when it comes to re-translating a text? Upon little reflection of these questions, a natural answer would be that if the translation is well done, what use would there be for another one? Yet, upon more careful and detailed reflection, furthermore, upon analyzing and comparing such cases, the answer changes dramatically. Thus, this article tries to identify how the (re-)translation of a text can bring back to life overlooked meanings, details, connections, interpretations and, most importantly, new insights on a text and even on the author.