According to Robinson (2000: 103–107) religious translation is problematic in terms of the status of translation (Can or should religious texts be translated? How, when, for whom, and with what safeguards or controls should religious texts be translated?), sacredness (Is a translated religious text still sacred, or is it a mere ‘copy’ of the sacred text? What is sacrality, in what does it lodge or reside or inhere, and can it be transported across cultural boundaries?) and text (What is a religious text in an oral culture? What are the limits of a religious text in a literate culture? Do liturgical uses of a translated text count?). These core issues serve to contextualize the nature of the translation activity with respect to the three main monotheistic religions – Judiasm, Christianity, and Islam – and three of their central religious texts, the Bible, the Qur’ān, and the Talmud.

References

Batalden, Stephen, Cann, Kathleen & Dean, John

(eds) 2004 Sowing the Word. The cultural impact of the British and Foreign Bible Society. 1804–2004. Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press.

Etherington, Norman

(ed.) 2005 Missions and empires. Oxford History of the British Empire, Companion Series. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Holes, Clive

2000 “The Koran.” In The Oxford Guide to Literature in English Translation, France, P. (ed.), 141–145. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Lamin O Sanneh

1990 Translating the message: The missionary impact on culture. New York: Maryknoll.  TSB

Mintz, Adam

1994 “Words, Meaning and Spirit: The Talmud in Translation.” The Torah U-Madda Journal 5: 114–155.  TSB

Naudé, Jacobus A

2002 “An overview of recent developments in Translation Studies with special reference to the implications for Bible translation.” In Contemporary Translation Studies and Bible Translation: A South African Perspective, Jacobus A. Naudé & C.H.J. van der Merwe, 44–69. Acta Theologica Supplementum 2. Bloemfontein: University of the Free State.  TSB

Naudé, Jacobus A

2005 “Translation and cultural transformation. The case of the Afrikaans Bible Translations.” In Translation and Cultural Change: Studies in history, norms and image-projection, Hung Eva (ed.), 19–42. John Benjamins Translation Studies Series 61. Amsterdam: John Benjamins  TSB

Naudé, Jacobus A

2006 “The Qu’rān in English. An analysis in Descriptive Translation Studies.” Journal for Semitics 15 (2): 431–464.

Naudé, Jacobus A

2008 “It’s all Greek. The Septuagint and Recent Developments in Translation Studies.” In Translating a Translation. The Septuagint and its Modern Translations in the Context of Early Judaism, H. Ausloos, J. Cook, F. García Martínez, B. Lemmelijn, M. Vervenne (eds), 229–250. Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium 213. Leuven: Peeters.

Nida, E.A. & Taber, C.R

1974 The Theory and practice of translation. Leiden: E.J. Brill.  TSB

Robinson, Douglas

2000 “Sacred Texts.” In The Oxford Guide to Literature in English Translation, Peter France (ed.), 103–107. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Wendland, Ernst

2008 Contextual frames of reference in translation. A coursebook for Bible translators and teachers. Manchester, UK: St Jerome Publishing.  TSB

Wilt, Timothy

2003 Bible translation. Frames of reference. Manchester, UK: St Jerome Publishing.  TSB

Further reading

Israel, H

2006 “Translating the Bible in Nineteenth-Century India. Protestant Missionary Translation and the Standard Tamil.” In Translating Others. Volume 2, Theo Hermans (ed.), 441–459. Manchester, UK: St Jerome.  TSB

Long, Lynne

(ed.) 2005 Translation and religion. Holy Untranslatable? Clevedon: Multilingual matters.  BoP

Noss, Philip A

(ed.) 2007 A history of Bible translation. Rome: Edizioni Di Storia e Letteratura.  TSB