Who translates? Translated identity as oikological identity

The paper approaches the topic ‘translation after translation’ from the point of view of the translator. The aim of these pages is to support the idea that the one who translates does not only carry out a task or a job but rather exemplifies every identity, shaping it up as oikological identity. This term is created from the Greek word oikos, which means dwelling, and suggests that identity is made up not through self-reflection by the self. Rather, identity emerges because one dwells (and for this reason every identity is oikological) and, by dwelling, identities translate themselves, one next to the other, turning themselves into translated identities. Through this, the question of ‘who’ translates extends to any ‘who’, conveying that translation, in addition to being a job and a task, is a way of being and of being worldly. Finally, through the association of metaphor and translation, this paper proposes the figure of chiasmus to express oikological identities as translated identities, pointing out that when one translates, two worlds and cultures cross, giving life to an always new ‘who’ that translation alone creates.