Bleakness in the Age of Google: Walter Benjamin and the Possibility of Redemptive Translation

In the Age of Google, translation has become a tool of inconceivable simplicity and availability. Even if the instant translation of web pages or online documents is set aside, global society's ever-growing appetite for knowledge has, to a great degree, blunted the edge of the art of translation. The enormous quantities of materials awaiting translation, the decreasing attention span of publishers and readers, and a myriad of other factors, have all contributed to the creation of a rather bleak reality for translators and readers. The time and financial resources that fine translation requires for the task itself, as well as for the never ending expansion of the translator's erudition and literary finesseare in perfect disproportion to the resources made available. So what is the big deal?