HOW DO YOU REPORT SOMETHING THAT WAS SAID WITH A SMILE? – CAN WE OVERCOME THE LOSS OF MEANING WHEN ORAL-MANUSCRIPT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE ARE REPRESENTED IN MODERN PRINTED MEDIA?
Abstract
The paper examines the loss of meaning that occurs when Biblical manuscripts are translated into the modern printed media. Most of the Biblical texts originated in cultures where the conventions of oral and manuscript communication predominated. When such texts are translated into modern languages a loss of meaning is bound to occur. Because of a literate bias such shifts in meaning normally go unnoticed. Translators therefore have to develop conscious strategies to counteract this loss of meaning. Some of these strategies are: (1) drawing a clear profile of the media cultures available to the Biblical authors; (2) assessing the interplay between different media interfaces as they appear in the text; and (3) understanding the constraints that the properties of the specific media exert on the process of communication.Downloads
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