Abstract
Recently many new German bible
translations have appeared. The article first
presents a comparison of
paragraphs from ten different translations, with examples
taken from the
New Testament. This shows some basic trends. On the one hand,
the
objective of bible translation is Christian education, edification and
worship
usage. On the other hand, some translations focus on the cultural
information,
easy readability and inclusive language. Such orientation
accepts purposeful
adaptation and thus modifies the original text. And
there are a few translations
that constitute the product of an individual
interpretation of the text, and
its presentation in a literary form.
The discussion of these translation trends is complemented by a critique
of
the prominent focus on the language rather than on the message, and
the question
of a text's truth and a translator's linguistic awareness is
raised. The traditional
translation criticism distinguishing between
literal and target-oriented translation,
and even cultural adaptation, is
integrated here by a discussion of the procedural,
functional,
objectivistic and ethical implications of the new bible translations.
One feature of all recent projects of bible translation seems to be a
pedagogical
concern. Authors think that they need to guide readers in
their interpretation,
because those may be unable to understand the very
old, strange and often opaque
text; or they might misunderstand it and
thus miss the true message; or they
should learn something about the
historic culture; and last but not least, traditional
patriarchal
attitudes promoted by Christianity should be overcome with a new
text.
The idea is that people's thinking can be directed by language.
Thus
the question is raised, whether a translation should also be an
interpretation.
In a critical view of the interpretive translation, this
article presents the
hermeneutic approach to translation. This implies a
well-informed openness as
an attitude towards the original message,
rather than a method. The focus is
neither on language structure nor on
the addressees, but on the text's message.
This includes the problem of
understanding a written text, what is never a matter
of fact. The text's
theological exegesis is a prerequisite for the translation,
but the value
of that translation is not only based on that. Translation aims
at a
faithful representation of the message and opens the direction of a text,
but the individual interpretation is always done by the readers
themselves.
When the translator as a reader identifies himself with
the message, s/he will
cognitively produce formulations apt to give
resonance to this message. The
translator becomes a co-author of that
text, and just as for the original author,
one will never totally govern
the readers' understanding. The translator's voice
will be more
convincing, when only one person is responsible for the text production,
different from the team works in various official projects of bible
translation.
Even if the bible as such is a composition of many different
books and pieces
of texts, these manifold voices may be better noted by
one translator alone,
rather than by many contributors, each of whom as a
specialist only translates
one book. Finally, the stylistic shape of the
target text is decisive. The bible
translator should have an excellent
knowledge of the target language, in order
to present various nuances.
Translating is not an information about an original
text, it represents
that original message in another language.