[B-Greek] Translation Considerations checklist: Suggestions?
Carl Conrad
cwconrad2 at mac.com
Mon May 3 15:43:31 EDT 2010
On May 3, 2010, at 12:56 PM, Mark Hoffman wrote:
> I am teaching an Advanced Greek class, and I have split the class into
> translation teams working on translating Luke 16:19-31, the story of the
> rich man and Lazarus. As one part of the course, we have spent nearly the
> whole semester working through each verse of the text, doing all the
> textual, lexical, exegetical ... work.
> Now I am asking them not to simply translate the Greek but to compose a
> translation of the text. (In my mine, there is a difference...) I was unable
> to find any resource that concisely described the types of things I wanted
> them to keep in mind as they worked. So, I have tried to compose and
> organize a list of considerations when composing a translation. Here's the
> introduction I wrote:
>
> When translating New Testament Greek into English, we sometimes are seeking
> simply to confirm the accuracy of an existing English version. Sometimes we
> can look at the Greek and produce a translation in our mind that reflects
> our understanding of the text. In the considerations that follow, however, I
> am trying to note the kinds of things we should be thinking about if we are
> actually trying to produce a share-able translation. That is, we are trying
> to produce a translation that is faithful to the original Greek text, will
> stand independently from our explanation of it, and will communicate
> effectively to its readers.
>
> HERE <http://www.scrollandscreen.com/files/Translation%20Considerations.pdf>is
> the 3 page PDF of what I pulled together. If anyone is interested enough to
> read it and comment upon it (corrections, additions, suggestions...), I
> would be grateful. If you know of a similar sort of list to which you can
> point me, that would be appreciated too.
> Thanks.
It really should be said, first of all, that translation as such is not a topic on which
we encourage discussion in this forum since there is a well-established list,
B-Translation, devoted to that topic:
https://lists.kastanet.org/Lists/Bible-Translation/List.html
I think you would do well to put your queries to that list, if you haven't in fact
already done so.
Yes, I saw this on your blog this morning and immediately downloaded the PDF
file. I do indeed all the things that you ask students to consider are very much
worthy of consideration. And yet, and yet -- I find myself disturbed by the
very prospect of this sort of exercise, perhaps for no very good reason -- and it's
very likely that other B-Greekers won't agree with what I say -- but I want to say
it anyway.
I have been retired from teaching Greek for almost a decade; when I was teaching
it an advanced level I used to ask my students to do two versions: (a) a relatively
literal version that was just intelligible in English but that endeavored to express
the student's understanding of the structure of the Greek text, and (b) a version
expressing in the best English the student could muster the meaning of the Greek
text as the student understood it.
I now have my doubts about this sort of exercise and its value. I think that
translation is fundamentally an art and that it can be successful only if the
translator is a competent and talented literary artist. I am inclined to think that,
IF there is a value to the sort of exercise you propose, it lies in the lesson to be
learned by the student about how utterly hopeless the task of translation really is.
Some of us have been voicing our high disregard for the standard "woodenly-
literal" functional-equivalent version that seems to be the standard "proof-of-
the-pudding" of successful mastery of first-year Greek skills. I myself have
repeatedly propounded the view that the objective of instruction in ancient Greek
must be the ability to understand it and use it as a vehicle of communication
rather than to convert ancient Greek texts into one's native language as a
target language.
Some of us have been saying too all translations are in fact interpretations
or commentaries on the original text, and if μεθερμηνεύειν MEQERMHNEUEIN
is the Koine word ordinarily glossed as "translate," that would seem to accord
with the notion that a translation is an interpretation.
So what's the alternative to the classroom exercise in converting a Biblical
Greek text into one's native language? The more sophisticated tests of English
comprehension call for the reader to restate in his/her own words the content
of an English paragraph or two of expository prose or an English narrative .
I think that the equivalent of that such as perhaps Randall Buth would suggest
is a restatement of the reader's understanding of a passage of Greek expository
prose or narrative -- in Koine Greek. That would still be an interpretation,
of course. It would be at least as challenging as the sort of translation into
English that you are proposing to your classes. But it might ultimately be
worth more in terms of enhancing and demonstrating the student's real
understanding of the text.
I realize that this is not really a response to the question(s) you are raising --
but the questions which you are raising do point to questions that some
may think worth raising about the whole orientation of Biblical Greek
pedagogy. I would expect that several others will respond to your query
more appropriately and more helpfully with a view to your endeavor.
of Biblical Greek pedagogy
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
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