Translation Studies Research Seminar Series: Religious Translation In brief Speaker - David Hayes (University of Edinburgh) Title - Liturgical Translation in the Latin Rite Catholic Church Attend the seminar on Collaborate Learn Abstract By David Hayes Within the field of sacred text translation, studies involving Christianity have often focused on Protestant bible translations, especially from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. The relative neglect of Catholic biblical and liturgical texts is partly explained by the fact that, for many centuries, the Catholic Church regarded sacred text translation as a threat rather than an opportunity, fearing in particular that it would negatively impact doctrinal orthodoxy. As a result, the translation of the bible and the liturgy was often either forbidden or strictly limited. It was not until the mid-twentieth century that the Catholic Church finally allowed its biblical translations to be made directly from the original Hebrew and Greek, and its Latin liturgical texts for the Mass and other sacramental rites to be universally translated into the vernacular. Even today, however, the Church’s understanding of translation theory in its own translation instructions is largely limited to ensuring linguistic ‘accuracy’ and ‘fidelity’, free of ideological influence. In contrast, translation studies as a discipline now usually argues that no translation approach, even literal translation, is ideologically neutral and that the production and reception of translations is influenced by a wide range of sociological, anthropological, cultural and political factors. While a few attempts have been made to interpret the Church’s translation instructions in broader terms, this work has yet to be undertaken in depth. This seminar presentation will therefore introduce Catholic liturgical texts (specifically, the Roman Missal) and the issues surrounding their translation, arguing that this topic illustrates many of the complex negotiations and tensions involved in translating sacred texts used in ritual contexts. Future areas of engagement for this PhD project will include the cultural aspects of liturgical translation, factors influencing the Church’s self-representation, understandings of liturgical language, and issues relating to power, control and the reception of liturgical translations About the speaker David is a first-year, part-time PhD student at the University of Edinburgh, as well as a freelance translator working between French and English. His research focuses on liturgical translation in the Latin Rite Catholic Church. His previous studies include degrees in botany, theology and translation studies, the most recent being an MA in translation (2021) from The Open University (UK). About the seminar series Each semester, we welcome a fantastic range of guest speakers and colleagues to present a seminar on their work in translation. Our seminar series is run collaboratively by staff and postgraduate students, enabling our early career researchers to build networks and experience. This year, the students are Wang Hanyu and Aaliyah Charbenny. Entry is free and no booking is required. Everyone is welcome. Are you interested in Translation Studies at Edinburgh? Providing excellent teaching and supervision, our postgraduate MSc and PhD programmes are among the UK's most comprehensive and flexible. Our expertise covers a wide range of research areas and many languages, of which you can choose to work with two. Find out more about postgraduate programmes in Translation Studies Feb 16 2022 16.00 - 16.40 Translation Studies Research Seminar Series: Religious Translation Join us for a free online seminar by David Hayes (University of Edinburgh) on Catholic liturgical texts and the issues surrounding their translation, highlighting many of the complex negotiations and tensions involved in translating sacred texts used in ritual context. Online via Collaborate Learn Attend the seminar on Collaborate Learn
Translation Studies Research Seminar Series: Religious Translation In brief Speaker - David Hayes (University of Edinburgh) Title - Liturgical Translation in the Latin Rite Catholic Church Attend the seminar on Collaborate Learn Abstract By David Hayes Within the field of sacred text translation, studies involving Christianity have often focused on Protestant bible translations, especially from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. The relative neglect of Catholic biblical and liturgical texts is partly explained by the fact that, for many centuries, the Catholic Church regarded sacred text translation as a threat rather than an opportunity, fearing in particular that it would negatively impact doctrinal orthodoxy. As a result, the translation of the bible and the liturgy was often either forbidden or strictly limited. It was not until the mid-twentieth century that the Catholic Church finally allowed its biblical translations to be made directly from the original Hebrew and Greek, and its Latin liturgical texts for the Mass and other sacramental rites to be universally translated into the vernacular. Even today, however, the Church’s understanding of translation theory in its own translation instructions is largely limited to ensuring linguistic ‘accuracy’ and ‘fidelity’, free of ideological influence. In contrast, translation studies as a discipline now usually argues that no translation approach, even literal translation, is ideologically neutral and that the production and reception of translations is influenced by a wide range of sociological, anthropological, cultural and political factors. While a few attempts have been made to interpret the Church’s translation instructions in broader terms, this work has yet to be undertaken in depth. This seminar presentation will therefore introduce Catholic liturgical texts (specifically, the Roman Missal) and the issues surrounding their translation, arguing that this topic illustrates many of the complex negotiations and tensions involved in translating sacred texts used in ritual contexts. Future areas of engagement for this PhD project will include the cultural aspects of liturgical translation, factors influencing the Church’s self-representation, understandings of liturgical language, and issues relating to power, control and the reception of liturgical translations About the speaker David is a first-year, part-time PhD student at the University of Edinburgh, as well as a freelance translator working between French and English. His research focuses on liturgical translation in the Latin Rite Catholic Church. His previous studies include degrees in botany, theology and translation studies, the most recent being an MA in translation (2021) from The Open University (UK). About the seminar series Each semester, we welcome a fantastic range of guest speakers and colleagues to present a seminar on their work in translation. Our seminar series is run collaboratively by staff and postgraduate students, enabling our early career researchers to build networks and experience. This year, the students are Wang Hanyu and Aaliyah Charbenny. Entry is free and no booking is required. Everyone is welcome. Are you interested in Translation Studies at Edinburgh? Providing excellent teaching and supervision, our postgraduate MSc and PhD programmes are among the UK's most comprehensive and flexible. Our expertise covers a wide range of research areas and many languages, of which you can choose to work with two. Find out more about postgraduate programmes in Translation Studies Feb 16 2022 16.00 - 16.40 Translation Studies Research Seminar Series: Religious Translation Join us for a free online seminar by David Hayes (University of Edinburgh) on Catholic liturgical texts and the issues surrounding their translation, highlighting many of the complex negotiations and tensions involved in translating sacred texts used in ritual context. Online via Collaborate Learn Attend the seminar on Collaborate Learn
Feb 16 2022 16.00 - 16.40 Translation Studies Research Seminar Series: Religious Translation Join us for a free online seminar by David Hayes (University of Edinburgh) on Catholic liturgical texts and the issues surrounding their translation, highlighting many of the complex negotiations and tensions involved in translating sacred texts used in ritual context.
