Innovation in Bible Translation: History, Theory, Practice

Belo Horizonte (Brazil), 7-10 July 2015

IATIS 5th International Conference

Submit Abstracts by 1 August 2014

Although Bible translation is rightly considered a variety of religious translation, in many respects Bible translators have operated outside of the field of translation studies in general. This panel seeks to bring Bible translation into conversation with translation studies by highlighting recent developments in Bible translation with respect to the implementation of the sociological turn in translation studies.

There are three main areas to be examined: (1) The writing of histories of Bible translation with special attention to their social and cultural impact. Included in this area are the ways in which Bible translation has impacted language groups socially and culturally with respect, for example, to language development and social and economic development. (2) The theory of Bible translation, especially concerning direct and indirect translation, translation as interpretation, and intersemiotic translation. Included in this area are the ways in which Bible translation has approached the issues of foreignisation and indigenisation and the question of respect for the cultural values of the target culture. (3) The practice of Bible translation, especially with respect to orality and non-print media, performance criticism, translation for non-Christian audiences and technological developments such as computer assisted dialect adaptation. Included in this area are the issues of Bible translation as "Scripture engagement," the sociology of translating within predominately oral cultural contexts, and the tension between local control of Bible translation projects and international standards.

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