[B-Greek] essays on translation of Greek classics (review of Carne-Ross)
James Ernest
j.d.ernest at bc.edu
Thu Jan 20 09:41:31 EST 2011
http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2011/2011-01-23.html
Nothing about *biblical* Greek here, but I think some B-Greekers would
be interested in this review, and maybe even the book, which collects
essays by one of my recently (about a year ago now) deceased Greek
teachers, Donald S. Carne-Ross, who for years was a denizen, along
with Elie Wiesel and other luminaries, of Boston University's
University Professors Program. He was a serious and sensitive reader
and teacher.
Most of my time with him was spent reading and discussing texts, but
he also talked about translation. What I mostly recall, and think
about with regard to biblical translations, is his point that when
translation has to serve as a way of providing cribs and crutches to
people who can't read the original for themselves (think Lattimore in
the post-WW2 educational environment) you get a much inferior product.
When translators could assume that the reader knew the original well,
translations are free to be simultaneously works of art and works of
interpretation.
With regard to biblical translations, I think the useful distinction
we can make is not between "translations" and "paraphrases" but
between renderings that draw on a close and deep knowledge of the
original to produce a version that is faithful, interpretively rich,
and artistically worthy, and renderings that lack some or all of those
qualities.
James Ernest
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