Modern Theoretical Approaches to Medieval Translation (original) (raw)

A Companion to Medieval Translation

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The paper examines how modern theoretical approaches inform the study of medieval translation, challenging traditional paradigms that prioritize source texts and authorship. By integrating contemporary theories from various disciplines, the discussion highlights how these frameworks can facilitate a nuanced understanding of historical translation practices, emphasizing the fluidity of texts and the complex relationships of power, culture, and context. The potential for ongoing scholarship in this area is also considered.

Translation as Rewriting: A Modern Theory for a Premodern Practice

One definition of translation in contemporary translation theory claims that rendering a text from one language into another is in fact a form of rewriting. Although this concept was first articulated in the early 1990s, this paper argues that it has much in common with premodern rhetorical ideas of imitation and emulation and can be usefully applied to explain medieval and humanist translation practices. To demonstrate this, I analyze premodern hagiographical and historiographical texts (primarily translations from Greek into Latin) in relation to Gérard Genette’s concept of hypertextualité and André Lefevere’s theory of translation as rewriting. Juxtaposing modern and premodern theories and practices, I identify and describe connections on both a synchronic level – between various premodern writing modes such as historiography and hagiography and translations of these genres – and a diachronic one, comparing conceptual frameworks from Late Antiquity, the medieval period, and in one instance the Renaissance, with that of contemporary translation theory.

THE PROBLEM OF EQUIVALENCE IN TRANSLATION STUDIES OF XX AND XXI CENTURIES BY SCHOLARS

2022

The process of translation has existed for thousands of years and facilitates the transmission of language and culture. However, as an academic field, it began to develop under the name of "Translation Studies", which was proposed by the scholar James Holmes in the latter half of the 20th century (1972). This concept has been widely accepted because it sees translation as an all-encompassing field and shifts focus to areas of translation that have been neglected by the training of interpreters and translators. Perhaps the greatest contribution of James Holmes (1988)1 was his attempt to clarify the 'field' of translation research. If you look closely at this map, the translation he divides into two main areas. Very pure and applied. First, we describe the various translation phenomena that exist. Second, to develop general principles that adequately explains these phenomena.

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