Article] Toward Greater Emotional Accuracy in Psalm Translation: A Focus on the Process of Internalization (original) (raw)

Ethnodoxology: A Global Forum on Arts and Christian Faith

I write this paper in response to many requests1 from Bible translation groups with regard to how to internalize poetry, within the oral ambience of oral Bible translation (OBT). Clearly some facets of poetry differ from narrative (the genre of most OBT). For example, a poem, unlike a narrative, must be heard many times in its entirety before it can be understood. People have approached our group because, for several years, we have been together seeking to develop a new method for translating psalms in a way that is sensitive to local culture and within an ethnic musical milieu. We have now reached a stage at which we have something to share that could benefit others. In particular, we have noted three areas which are important if translators are to be able to express the message of a poem: first, they need to enter into its emotional content. Second, they need to hold its content as a whole (since a poem must be understood as a unit). And third, they need to engage creatively, using all the senses to explore the full rhetoric of the poet. This requires an application of the dynamics of performance (for the first), memory theory (for the second), and methods of stimulating creativity (for the third). The research aspect of this paper involves applying insights from other disciplines to Bible translation. Many scholars (for example, Aboelela et al. 20072) would assert that this is where exciting discoveries are currently being made, at the intersection of related disciplines. Thus, in this paper I focus on the application of findings from related fields (memory studies, creativity studies, and performance studies) rather than critically assessing those findings. I present those findings which have been tested in practice and found to be helpful when translating psalms. Most Bible translators have neither the time nor the opportunity for such focused study, and I offer this paper to help them. The nature of this paper is practical. The research question is simple: How can we translate psalms in a more culturally sensitive way, including the poetic features of the RL and the community’s musical and performance modes? The method comes from twenty weeks of workshops with three language groups of three African countries. By sharing proven ideas, the paper offers an innovative, creative, and stimulating approach to psalm translation.