When we talk about the history of translation, we should think of the theories and names that

emerged at its different periods. In fact, each era is characterized by specific changes in

translation history, but these changes differ from one place to another. For example, the

developments of translation in the western world are not the same as those in the Arab world,

as each nation knew particular incidents that led to the birth of particular theories. So, what

are the main changes that marked translation history in both the West and the Arab world?

a. Translation in the western world

For centuries, people believed in the relation between translation and the story of the tower of

Babel in the Book of Genesis. According to the Bible, the descendants of Noah decided, after

the great flood, to settle down in a plain in the land of Shinar. There, they committed a great

sin. Instead of setting up a society that fits God's will, they decided to challenge His authority

and build a tower that could reach Heaven. However, this plan was not completed, as God,

recognizing their wish, regained control over them through a linguistic stratagem. He caused

them to speak different languages so as not to understand each other. Then, he scattered them

all over the earth. After that incident, the number of languages increased through diversion,

and people started to look for ways to communicate, hence the birth of translation

(Abdessalam Benabdelali, 2006) (1).

The Tower of Babel forms the focus of a story told in the Book of Genesis of the

Bible. According to the story, a united humanity of the generations following the Great

Flood, speaking a single language and migrating from the east, came to the land

of Shinar (Hebrew: שנער), where they resolved to build a city with a tower "whose top may

reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of

the whole earth.”

God came down to see what they did and said: "They are one people and have one language,

and nothing will be withheld from them which they purpose to do." "Come, let us go down

and confound their speech." And so God scattered them upon the face of the Earth, and

confused their languages, so that they would not be able to return to each other, and they left

off building the city, which was called Babel "because God there confounded the language of

all the Earth."

The Tower of Babel has often been associated with known structures, notably

the Etemenanki, a ziggurat dedicated to the Mesopotamian god Marduk by Nabopolassar,

king of Babylonia (c. 610 BC). The Great Ziggurat of Babylon base was square (not round),

91 metres (300 ft) in height, and demolished by Alexander the Great. A Sumerian story with

some similar elements is told in Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta.

Actually, with the birth of translation studies and the increase of research in the domain,

people started to get away from this story of Babel, and they began to look for specific dates

and figures that mark the periods of translation history. Researchers mention that writings on

translation go back to the Romans. Eric Jacobson claims that translating is a Roman invention

(see McGuire: 1980) (2). Cicero and Horace (first century BC) were the first theorists who

distinguished between word-for-word translation and sense-for-sense translation. Their

comments on translation practice influenced the following generations of translation up to the

twentieth century.

Another period that knew a changing step in translation development was marked

by St Jerome (fourth century CE). "His approach to translating the Greek Septuagint Bible

into Latin would affect later translations of the scriptures." (Munday, 2001) (3)

Later on, the translation of the Bible remained subject to many conflicts between western

theories and ideologies of translation for more than a thousand years.

Moreover, these conflicts on Bible translation were intensified with the coming of the

Reformation in the sixteenth century, when "translation came to be used as a weapon in both

dogmatic and political conflicts as nation states began to emerge and the centralization of the

Church started to weaken evidence in linguistic terms by the decline of Latin as a universal

language." (McGuire, 1980) (4)

Needless to say that the invention of printing techniques in the fifteenth century developed

the field of translation and helped in the appearance of early theorists. For instance, Etienne

Dolet (1509-46), whose heretic mistranslation of one of Plato's dialogues, the phrase "rien du

tout" (nothing at all) that showed his disbelief in immortality, led to his execution.

The seventeenth century knew the birth of many influential theorists such as Sir John

Denhom (1615-69), Abraham Cowley (1618-67), John Dryden (1631-1700), who was

famous for his distinction between three types of translation; metaphrase, paraphrase and

imitation, and Alexander Pope (1688-1744).

In the eighteenth century, the translator was compared to an artist with a moral duty both to

the work of the original author and to the receiver. Moreover, with the enhancement of new

theories and volumes on translation process, the study of translation started to be systematic;

Alexander Frayer Tayler's volume Principles of Translation (1791) is a case in point.

The nineteenth century was characterized by two conflicting tendencies; the first considered

translation as a category of thought and saw the translator as a creative genius, who enriches

the literature and language into which he is translating, while the second saw him through the

mechanical function of making a text or an author known (McGuire) (5).

This period of the nineteenth century knew also the enhancement of Romanticism, the fact

that led to the birth of many theories and translations in the domain of literature, especially

poetic translation. An example of these translations is the one used by Edward Fitzgerald

(1809-1863) for Rubaiyat Omar Al-Khayyam (1858).

In the second half of the twentieth century, studies on translation became an important course

in language teaching and learning at schools. What adds to its value is the creation of a

variety of methods and models of translation. For instance, the grammar-translation method

studies the grammatical rules and structures of foreign languages. The cultural model is also a

witness for the development of translation studies in the period. It required in translation not

only a word-for-word substitution, but also a cultural understanding of the way people in

different societies think (Mehrach, 1977) (6). With this model, we can distinguish between

the ethnographical-semantic method and the dynamic equivalent method.

Another model that appears in the period is text-based translation model, which focuses on

texts rather than words or sentences in translation process. This model includes a variety of

sub-models: the interpretative model, the text linguistic model and models of translation

quality assessments that in turn provide us with many models such as those of Riess, Wilss,

Koller, House, North and Hulst.

The period is also characterized by pragmatic and systematic approach to the study of

translation. The most famous writings and figures that characterize the twenties are those of

Jean-Paul Vinay and Darbelnet, who worked on a stylistic comparative study of French and

English (1958), Alfred Malblanc (1963), George Mounin (1963), John C. Catford. (1965),

Eugene Nida (1964), who is affected by the Chomskyan generative grammar in his theories

of translation, De Beaugrand who writes a lot about translation, and many others who worked

and still work for the development of the domain.

Nowadays, translation research started to take another path, which is more automatic. The

invention of the internet, together with the new technological developments in

communication and digital materials, has increased cultural exchanges between nations. This

leads translators to look for ways to cope with these changes and to look for more practical

techniques that enable them to translate more and waste less. They also felt the need to enter

the world of cinematographic translation, hence the birth of audiovisual translation. The latter

technique, also called screen translation, is concerned with the translation of all kinds of TV

programs, including films, series, and documentaries. This field is based on computers and

translation software programs, and it is composed of two methods: dubbing and subtitling. In

fact, audiovisual translation marks a changing era in the domain of translation.

In short, translation has a very wide and rich history in the West. Since its birth, translation

was the subject of a variety of research and conflicts between theorists. Each theorist

approaches it according to his viewpoint and field of research, the fact that gives its history a

changing quality.

b. Translation in the Arab world

The early translations used in Arabic are dated back to the time of Syrians (the first half of

the second century AD), who translated into Arabic a large heritage that belongs to the era

of paganism (Bloomshark 1921: 10-12, qtd by Addidaoui, 2000) (7). Syrians were influenced

in their translations by the Greek ways of translation. Syrian's translations were more literal

and faithful to the original (Ayad 1993: 168, qtd by Addidaoui, 2000) (8). According to

Addidaoui, Jarjas was one of the best Syrian translators; his famous Syrian translation of

Aristotle's book In The World was very faithful and close to the original.

Additionally, the time of the prophet Mohamed (peace be upon him) is of paramount

importance for translation history. The spread of Islam and the communication with non-

Arabic speaking communities as Jews, Romans and others pushed the prophet to look for

translators and to encourage the learning of foreign languages. One of the most famous

translators of the time is Zaid Ibnu Thabet, who played a crucial role in translating letters sent

by the prophet to foreign kings of Persia, Syria, Rome and Jews, and also letters sent by those

kings to the prophet.

Another era that knew significant changes in Arabic translation was related to the translation

of the Holy Koran. According to Ben Chakroun (2002) (9), the early translators of the Koran

focused on its meaning. Salman El Farisi, for instance, translated the meaning of Surat Al

Fatiha for Persian Muslims, who didn't speak Arabic. Ben Chakroun (2002) (10) states that

Western libraries still preserve many translations of the Koran, and that some of them such as

the Greek translation of the philosopher Naktis belong to the third century (BC). Besides, the

Holy Koran received a special interest from the translators. It was translated into Persian by

Sheikh Mohamed Al-Hafid Al-Boukhari and into Turkish language by Sheikh Al-Fadl

Mohamed Ben Idriss Al-Badlissi.

Despite the proliferation of the Koran translations, this matter was and is still the point of

many debates and conflicts in the Arab world. An example of these conflicts occurs after the

translation of the Koran into Turkish language by the Turkish government in the time of

Mustapha Kamal Ataturk. The latter aimed to use the translation instead of the original book

as a way to spread secularism in the Islamic country. This led to a wave of criticism from

Arab intellectuals, journalists and muftis.

Besides, the core of the conflicts that existed and still exist in the translation of Koran is

related to the reason behind translation itself, i.e., whether to use the translation as a way to

teach the principles of Islam or to use it in praying and legislation was the difficult choice

that faced translators. In general, translation of Koran knows various changes, the fact that

led to the creation of special committees that took the responsibility of translating it in a way

that preserves it from falsification.

Another era that knows important developments in the Arab translation is that of 'the first

Abbasid period' (750-1250). Translation knew an enhancement with the Caliph Al-Mansour,

who built the city of Baghdad, and was also developed in the time of the Caliph Al-Ma'moun,

who built 'Bait Al Hikma', which was the greatest institute of translation at the time. During

the period translators focused on Greek philosophy, Indian science and Persian literature (Al-

Kasimi, 2006) (11).

The Arab history of translation is also characterized by the name of Al-Jahid (868-577), one

of the greatest theorists in translation. His theories and writings in the domain of translation

are still used today by many professional Arab translators. According to Al-Jahid (1969),

"the translator should know the structure of the speech, habits of the people and their

ways of understanding each other." (12)

In addition to his insistence on the knowledge of the structure of the language and the culture

of its people, Al-Jahid talked too much about the importance of revision after translation. In

brief, Al-Jahid puts a wide range of theories in his two books Al-Hayawān (1969) and Al-

Bayān Wa Attabayyun (1968).

Further, the Egyptian scholar Mona Baker (1997) (13) distinguished between two famous

methods in Arab translation; the first belongs to Yohana Ibn Al- Batriq and Ibn Naima Al-

Himsi, and is based on literal translation, that is, each Greek word was translated by its

equivalent Arabic word, while the second refers to Hunayn Ibn Ishaq Al-Jawahiri and is

based on sense-for-sense translation as a way to create fluent target texts that preserve the

meaning of the original.

Nowadays, Arab translations know many changes. The proliferation of studies in the domain

helps in the development of translation and the birth of new theorists. Translation in the Arab

world also benefits from the use of computers, digital materials and the spread of databases of

terminologies that offer translators a considerable number of dictionaries. This has led to the

creation of many associations of translation like 'the committee of Arab translators' in Saudi-

Arabia and many others. However, in comparing the number of translated books by Arab

translators with those of westerners, we feel that the gap between them is still wide, as the

translations used by Arabs since the time of Al-Ma'moun up to now do not exceed ten

thousand books, which is less than what Spain translates in one year (Ali Al-Kasimi, 2006)

(14).

In short, the history of translation in the Arab world is marked by many changes and events.

Since its early beginnings with Syrians, translation knew the birth of many theorists who

sited up the basis of Arabic translation and theories. In fact, it is in religious discourse where

Arabic translation reaches its peak. For the translation of Koran received much interest from

Arab translators. Today, translation in the Arab world knows a sort of progression, especially

with its openness to Western theories and theorists, but it is still suffering from many

problems and difficulties.

To sum up, translation history is rich in inventions and theories. Each era is characterized by

the appearance of new theorists and fields of research in translation. It is true that the western

history of translation is larger and rich in proportion to that of the Arabs, but we should not

deny that the translation history of the latter started to develop year by year, especially with

the great efforts of Arabic academia in the domain.

From Babel to Babel Fish

There have been a number of books written recently about the history of translation. What

certainly is true is that as we move from the age of the tower of Babel (where the Bible tells

us different languages were first introduced) to the age of Babel Fish (and other instant

translation services) there is a growing need for translation. As the internet spreads, and

globalisation moves on - the need for translation increases. Language schools and courses,

like St Georges language courses in London, may help you to learn Spanish in London but

theorists throughout the ages have insisted that a good translator must not only know the

language but understand the culture they are translating.

Early history

The word translation itself derives from a Latin term meaning "to bring or carry across". The

Ancient Greek term is 'metaphrasis' ("to speak across") and this gives us the term

'metaphrase' (a "literal or word-for-word translation") - as contrasted with 'paraphrase' ("a

saying in other words"). This distinction has laid at the heart of the theory of translation

throughout its history: Cicero and Horace employed it in Rome, Dryden continued to use it in

the seventeenth century and it still exists today in the debates around "fidelity versus

transparency" or "formal equivalence versus dynamic equivalence". The first known

translations are those of the Sumerian epic Gilgamesh into Asian languages from the second

millennium BC. Later Buddhist monks translated Indian sutras into Chinese and Roman poets

adapted Greek texts.

Arabic scholars

Translation undertaken by Arabs could be said to have kept Greek wisdom and learning alive.

Having conquered the Greek world, they made Arabic versions of its philosophical and

scientific works. During the Middle Ages, translations of these Arabic versions were made

into Latin - mainly at the school in C�rdoba, Spain. These Latin translations of Greek and

original Arab works of learning helped underpin Renaissance scholarship.

Religious texts

Religious texts have played a great role in the history of translation. One of the first recorded

instances of translation in the West was the rendering of the Old Testament into Greek in the

3rd century BC. A task carried out by 70 scholars this translation itself became the basis for

translations into other languages.

Saint Jerome, the patron saint of translation, produced a Latin Bible in the 4th century AD

that was the preferred text for the Roman Catholic Church for many years to come.

Translations of the Bible, though, were to controversially re-emerge when the Protestant

Reformation saw the translation of the Bible into local European languages - eventually this

led to Christianity's split into Roman Catholicism and Protestantism due to disparities

between versions of crucial words and passages. Martin Luther himself is credited with being

the first European to propose that one translates satisfactorily only toward his own language:

a statement that is just as true in modern translation theory.

Modern Theory and Practice

Whilst industrialisation has led to the formalization of translation for business purposes since

the eighteenth century it is, perhaps, the internet and mechanical translation that has really

revolutionised the field. In terms of theory Lawrence Venuti's call for "foreignizing"

strategies marks a call for fidelity over transparency in translation. The two poles of

metaphrase and paraphrase, however, still set the terms of debate from the age of Babel to

that of Babel Fish.

Rosetta Stone

The Rosetta Stone: translation of the demotic text

[Year 9, Xandikos day 4], which is equivalent to the Egyptian month, second month of Peret,

day 18, of the King 'The Youth who has appeared as King in the place of his Father', the Lord

of the Uraei 'Whose might is great, who has established Egypt, causing it to prosper, whose

heart is beneficial before the gods', (the One) Who is over his Enemy 'Who has caused the

life of the people to prosper, the Lord of the Years of Jubilee like Ptah-Tenen, King like Pre',

[the King of the Upper Districts and] the Lower Districts 'The Son of the Father-loving Gods,

whom Ptah has chosen, to whom Pre has given victory, the Living Image of Amun', the Son

of Pre 'Ptolemy, living forever, beloved of Ptah, the Manifest God whose excellence is fine',

son of Ptolemy and Arsinoe, the Father-loving Gods, (and) the Priest of Alexander and the

Saviour Gods and [the Brother-and-Sister Gods and the] Beneficent [Gods] and the Father-

loving Gods and King Ptolemy, the Manifest God whose excellence is fine, Aetos son of

Aetos; while Pyrrha daughter of Philinos was Prize-bearer before Berenice the Beneficent,

while Areia daughter of Diogenes was [Basket]-bearer [before Arsi]noe the Brother-loving,

and while Eirene daughter of Ptolemy was Priestess of Arsinoe the Father-loving: on this day,

a decree of the mr-snpriests and the hm-ntr priests, and the priests who enter the sanctuary to

perform clothing rituals for the gods, and the scribes of the divine book and the scribes of the

House of Life, and the other priests who have come from the temples of Egypt [to Memphis

on] the festival of the Reception of the Rulership by King Ptolemy, living forever, beloved of

Ptah, the Manifest God whose excellence is fine, from his father, who have assembled in the

temple of Memphis, and who have said:

Whereas King Ptolemy, living forever, the Manifest God whose excellence is fine, son of

King Ptolemy [and Queen] Arsinoe, the Father-loving Gods, is wont to do many favours for

the temples of Egypt and for all those who are subject to his kingship, he being a god, the son

of a god and a goddess, and being like Horus son of Isis and Osiris, who protects his father

Osiris, and his heart being beneficent concerning the gods, since he has given much money

and much grain to the temples of Egypt, [he having undertaken great expenses] in order to

create peace in Egypt and to establish the temples, and having rewarded all the forces that are

subject to his rulership; and of the revenues and taxes that were in force in Egypt he had

reduced some or(?) had renounced them completely, in order to cause the army and all the

other people to be prosperous in his time as [king; the arrear]s which were due to the King

from the people who are in Egypt and all those who are subject to his kingship, and (which)

amounted to a large total, he renounced; the people who were in prison and those against

whom there had been charges for a long time, he released; he ordered concerning the

endowments of the gods, and the money and the grain that are given as allowances to their

[temples] each year, and the shares that belong to the gods from the vineyards, the orchards,

and all the rest of the property which they possessed under his father, that they should remain

in their possession; moreover, he ordered concerning the priests that they should not pay their

tax on becoming priests above what they used to pay up to Year 1 under his father; he

released the people [who hold] the offices of the temples from the voyage they used to make

to the Residence of Alexander each year; he ordered that no rower should be impressed into

service; he renounced the two-thirds share of the fine linen that used to be made in the

temples for the Treasury, he bringing into its [correct] state everything that had abandoned its

(proper) condition for a long time, and taking all care to have done in a correct manner what

is customarily done for the gods, likewise causing justice to be done for the people in

accordance with what Thoth the Twice-great did; moreover, he ordered concerning those who

will return from the fighting men and the rest of the people who had gone astray (lit. been on

other ways) in the disturbance that had occurred in Egypt that [they] should [be returned] to

their homes, and their possessions should be restored to them; and he took all care to send

(foot)soldiers, horsemen, and ships against those who came by the shore and by the sea to

make an attack on Egypt; he spent a great amount in money and grain against these

(enemies), in order to ensure that the temples and the people who were in Egypt should be

secure; he went to the fortress of Sk3n [which had] been fortified by the rebels with all kinds

of work, there being much gear and all kinds of equipment within it; he enclosed that fortress

with a wall and a dyke(?) around (lit. outside) it, because of the rebels who were inside it,

who had already done much harm to Egypt, and abandoned the way of the commands of the

King and the commands [of the god]s; he caused the canals which supplied water to that

fortress to be dammed off, although the previous kings could not have done likewise, and

much money was expended on them; he assigned a force of footsoldiers and horsemen to the

mouths of those canals, in order to watch over them and to protect them, because of the

[rising] of the water, which was great in Year 8, while those canals supply water to much

land and are very deep; the King took that fortress by storm in a short time; he overcame the

rebels who were within it, and slaughtered them in accordance with what Pre and Horus son

of Isis did to those who had rebelled against them in those places in the Beginning; (as for)

the rebels who had gathered armies and led them to disturb the nomes, harming the temples

and abandoning the way of the King and his father, the gods let him overcome thein at

Memphis during the festival of the Reception of the Rulership which he did from his father,

and he had them slain on the wood; he remitted the arrears that were due to the King from the

temples up to Year 9, and amounted to a large total of money and grain; likewise the value of

the fine linen that was due from the temples from what is made for the Treasury, and the

verification fees(?) of what had been made up to that time; moreover, he ordered concerning

the artaba of wheat per aroura of land, which used to be collected from the fields of the

endowment, and likewise for the wine per aroura of land from the vineyards of the gods'

endowments: he renounced them; he did many favours for Apis and Mnevis, and the other

sacred animals that are honoured in Egypt, more than what those who were before him used

to do, he being devoted to their affairs at all times, and giving what is required for their

burials, although it is great and splendid, and providing what is dedicated(?) in their temples

when festivals are celebrated and burnt offerings made before them, and the rest of the things

which it is fitting to do; the honours which are due to the temples and the other honours of

Egypt he caused to be established in their (proper) condition in accordance with the law; he

gave much gold, silver, grain, and other items for the Place of Apis; he had it adorned with

new work as very fine work; he had new temples, sanctuaries, and altars set up for the gods,

and caused others to assume their (proper) condition, he having the heart of a beneficent god

concerning the gods and enquiring after the honours of the temples, in order to renew them in

his time as king in the manner that is fitting; and the gods have given him in return for these

things strength, victory, success(?), prosperity, health, and all the (sic) other favours, his

kingship being established under him and his descendants forever:

With good fortune! It has seemed fitting to the priests of all the temples of Egypt, as to the

honours which are due to King Ptolemy, living forever, the Manifest God whose excellence is

fine, in the temples, and those which are due to the Father-loving Gods, who brought him into

being, and those which are due to the Beneficent Gods, who brought into being those who

brought him into being, and those which are due to the Brother-and-Sister Gods, who brought

into being those who brought them into being, and those which are due to the Saviour Gods,

the ancestors of his ancestors, to increase them; and that a statue should be set up for King

Ptolemy, living forever, the Manifest God whose excellence is fine - which should be called

'Ptolemy who has protected the Bright Land', the meaning of which is 'Ptolemy who has

preserved Egypt' - together with a statue for the local god, giving him a scimitar of victory, in

each temple, in the public part of the temple, they being made in the manner of Egyptian

work; and the priests should pay service to the statues in each temple three times a day, and

they should lay down sacred objects before them and do for them the rest of the things that it

is normal to do, in accordance with what is done for the other gods on the festivals, the

processions, and the named (holi)days; and there should be produced a cult image for King

Ptolemy, the Manifest God whose excellence is fine, son of Ptolemy and Queen Arsinoe, the

Father-loving Gods, together with the (sic) shrine in each temple, and it should be installed in

the sanctuary with the other shrines; and when the great festivals occur, on which the gods

are taken in procession, the shrine of the Manifest God whose excellence is fine should be

taken in procession with them; and in order that the shrine may be recognized, now and in the

rest of the times that are to come, ten royal diadems of gold should be added - there being one

uraeus on them each, like what is normally done for the gold diadems - on top of the shrine,

instead of the uraei that are upon the rest of the shrines; and the double crown should be in

the centre of the diadems, because it is the one with which the King was crowned in the

temple of Memphis, when there was being done for him what is normally done at the

Reception of the Rulership; and there should be placed on the upper side of (the) square(?)

which is outside the diadems, and opposite the gold diadem that is described above, a papyrus

plant and a 'sedge' plant; and a uraeus should be placed on a basket with a 'sedge' under it on

the right of the side on top of the shrine, and a uraeus with a basket under it should be placed

on a papyrus on the left, the meaning of which is 'The King who has illumined Upper and

Lower Egypt'; and whereas fourth month of Shemu, last day, on which is held the birthday of

the King, has been established already as a procession festival in the temples, likewise second

month of Peret, day 17, on which are performed for him the ceremonies of the Reception of

the Rulership - the beginning of the good things that have happened to everyone: the birth of

the King, living forever, and his reception of the rulership - let these days, the 17th and the

last, become festivals each month in all the temples of Egypt; and there should be performed

burnt offerings, libations, and the rest of the things that are normally done on the other

festivals, on both festivals each month; and what is offered in sacrifice(?) should be

distributed as a surplus(?) to the people who serve in the temple; and a procession festival

should be held in the temples and the whole of Egypt for King Ptolemy, living forever, the

Manifest God whose excellence is fine, each year, from first month of Akhet, day 1, for five

days, with garlands being worn, burnt offerings and libations being performed, and the rest of

the things that it is fitting to do; and the priests who are in each of the temples of Egypt

should be called 'The Priests of the Manifest God whose excellence is fine' in addition to the

other priestly titles, and they should write it on every document, and they should write the

priesthood of the Manifest God whose excellence is fine on their rings and they should

engrave it on them; and it should be made possible for the private persons also who will (so)

wish, to produce the likeness of the shrine of the Manifest God whose excellence is fine,

which is (discussed) above, and to keep it in their homes and hold the festivals and the

processions which are described above, each year, so that it may become known that the

inhabitants of Egypt pay honour to the Manifest God whose excellence is fine in accordance

with what is normally done; and the decree should be written on a stela of hard stone, in

sacred writing, document writing, and Greek writing, and it should be set up in the first-class

temples, the second-class temples and the third-class temples, next to the statue of the King,

living forever.

Translation by R.S. Simpson

Revised version from R.S. Simpson, Demotic Grammar in the Ptolemaic Sacerdotal

Decrees (Oxford, Griffith Institute, 1996), pp. 258-71

Copyright of R.S. Simpson and the Griffith Institute

A Brief History of Translations. The development of translations into the English language,

especially of the works of Plato. By John Mustain, Rare Book Librarian and Selector for

Classics, Stanford University.

The Renaissance has been termed "the great age of translations." The rise of Humanism

inspired translators from various European countries to translate many texts, especially those

of the ancients. England in the early 16th century lagged far behind the Continent in the

production of translations: by 1528, for example, Xenophon, Suetonius, Sallust, Thucydides,

and Caesar were all readily-available in French; English translations would come only later.

Nicholas Grimshaw, in his 1558 preface to his English translation of Cicero focused on this

phenomenon, criticizing the English for not having done for their country what "Italians,

Frenchmenne, Spaniards, Dutchmen and other foreigns have liberally done for theirs." 1

Henry Billinglsey stated, in the preface to his 1570 translation of Euclid (Barchas Collection

QA31.E87 1570 f), that he hoped that his translation would "excite and stirre up others

learned, to do the like... By meanes whereof, our Englishe tongue shall no lesse be enriched

with good Authors, then are other straunge tongues: as the Dutch, French, Italian and

Spanishe: in which are red all good authors in a maner, found amongest the Grekes or

Latines." 2

Latin was the reigning universal intellectual language of the day, and the best means of

having a text read throughout Europe; for those who wrote in such languages as Flemish,

Dutch, or Czech, Latin was almost indispensable in the spreading of texts. If the authors were

not fluent in Latin, they hired translators or arranged to have the hiring done by their

publishers. Translating a work from a foreign tongue into one's vernacular was seen by many

as a noble challenge and a contribution to a national literature. Translation as a phenomenon

was so esteemed and widespread during the 16th century that the printer Etienne Dolet's La

manière de bien traduire d'une langue en aultre (Lyon, 1540) served not only as a manual on

how to translate but also as a sign of the times. Castiglione's The Courtier, for example was

first published in Italian in 1528. Latin, French, and German translations were already

published when Sir Thomas Hoby, declaring that it was his duty to his fellow countrymen to

make available in English so useful and learned a guide, translated Castiglione into English in

1561. English translations gradually increased; indeed, "a study of Elizabethan translations is

a study of the means by which the Renaissance came to England." 3

Over the next decades appeared such time-honored English efforts as North's Plutarch (1579;

translated not from the original Greek but from the French of the remarkable Bishop Amyot),

Florio's Montaigne (1603; 1632 [Spec Coll Rare Books KC1632 .M6]),

Golding's Ovid (1565; 1612 [Spec Coll Rare Books KC1612 .O8]), Lodge's Seneca (1614)

[Spec Coll Rare Books KC1614 .S4 F], Harington's Ariosto (1603; 1607 [Spec Coll Rare

Books KC1607 .A7]), Sandy's Ovid (1626 [KC1626 .O8]; 1632 [Spec Coll Rare Books

KC1632 .O9 f]; 1640 [Spec Coll Rare Books KC1640 .O9 f]), and the six ancient authors

translated by Philemon Holland: Livy (1600) [Spec Coll Rare Books KC1600 .L5

f]), Pliny (1601) [Spec Coll Rare Books KC1601 .P5 f], Plutarch's Moralis (1603) [Spec Coll

Rare Books KC 1603 .P5 f], Suetonius (1606) [Spec Coll Rare Books KC1606

.S9], Ammianus Marcellinus (1609) [Spec Coll Rare Books KC1609 .A4],

and Xenophon (1632).

Translations from other Greek texts appeared in England during the English Renaissance, but

some were based on translations of translations (e.g. North's Plutarch, translated from French

into English); others were translated from the original Greek, but generally into Latin, the

universal scholarly language. Translations of Plato were practically non-existent in the

Middle Ages.

Fifteenth century Italy saw a great revival of interest in Greek texts and translations, fueled

by a proliferation of new manuscripts from the East, and culminating in the great Greek

printed editions of Aldus Manutius in Venice between 1495 and 1515. England's growing

interest in Greek texts derived largely from travel in and trade with Italy. While Manutius

produced in 1513 a magnificent Greek text of Plato's works (Spec. Coll. Gunst Z239.9.A36

P71 f), it was two French Protestant refugees that achieved the most influential translation of

the century: Henri Estienne and Jean de Serres, who dedicated their magnificent 1578 three

volume Greek and Latin edition of Plato to Queen Elizabeth (Barchas Collection PA4279.A2

1578 f). This scholarly masterpiece is still used as a definitive Latin text of Plato's works.

More and more Platonic texts were available in England in the 16th century, but the

translations were into Latin, and generally done by foreign scholars. Interest in Plato at this

time was never as strong in England as it was on the Continent, and this is clearly reflected in

the printing of texts: during the period 1485-1603, one edition of one authentic dialogue of

Plato was printed in England, while more than 100 editions were published in France,

including several editions of the complete works. While interest in translations in general ran

high in England during the Tudor period, Plato was virtually ignored save for reading foreign

editions.

The Stuart period of English history, however, saw an almost immediate burgeoning of

interest in Plato, especially the theme of Platonic love which runs through so much Stuart

literature, though there still did not exist an English translation of any of Plato's works, even

as a school text. 1675 saw the appearance of the first English translations of authentic

dialogues of Plato: the Apology and Phaedo, translated by an anonymous hand and published

in London (Spec Coll Rare Books 870608 00001). Platonisme unveil'd (1700), an English

translation of a French work, signaled the end of the high interest in Plato in England.

While general interest in Plato dwindled, the strong tendency in 18th century Britain to link

schooling and scholarship with the Classics did result in more English translations of Plato,

and approximately twenty Platonic dialogues were translated by different scholars over the

course of the century. Also appearing in the 18th century was an English abridged edition of

the complete works (Spec Coll Rare Books B358 D33 1719), but this translation was based

on the French text of Dacier, rather than the original Greek. It is only in the nineteenth

century that Plato's complete works are translated directly from the Greek into English, the

first edition being that of Thomas Taylor [consult Special Collections], which is shown

below.

Notes:

1 Quoted in Mathiessen, F.O., Translation: an Elizabethan Art. Cambridge: Harvard

University Press, 1931, p. 25

2 Euclid. The elements of geometrie of the most auncient philosopher euclide of

Megara. Imprinted at London: By Iohn Daye, 1570, leaf iii

3Mathiessen, p. 3

Sources Consulted

Clarke, M.L. Greek Studies in England, 1700-1830. Cambridge: University Press, 1945.

Stanford Auxiliary Library 880.7.C599

Jayne, Sears. Plato in Renaissance England. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic, c1995.

Green Library Stacks B395.J37 1995

Mathiessen, F.O. Translation: an Elizabethan Art. Cambridge: Harvard University Press,

1931.

Stanford Auxiliary Library 808.06.M443

Rowse, A.L. The Elizabethan Renaissance: the Life of the Society. New York: Charles

Scribner's Sons, c1971.

Meyer HN385.R66

Green Library Stacks HN385.R66

1804

Title Page

Opening Dialogue

The works of Plato; viz. his fifty-five dialogues, and twelve epistles / translated from the

Greek, nine of the dialogues by the late Floyer Sydenham, and the remainder by Thomas

Taylor; with occasional annotations on the nine dialogues translated by Sydenham, and

copious notes by the latter translator; in which is given the substance of nearly all the existing

Greek ms. commentaries on the philosophy of Plato, and a considerable portion of such as are

already published. London: Printed for T. Taylor by R. Wilks, and sold by E. Jeffery and R.

H. Evans, 1804. 5 v.

Courtesy of Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries.

[Item not yet cataloged; consult Special Collections]

1919

Frontispiece Title Page Opening Dialogue

Plato: with an English translation by H.N. Fowler and an introduction by W.R.M.

Lamb. London: William Heinemann ; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1919. 9 v.

Courtesy of Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries.

Classics Dept 888.4 .JF78

Stanford Auxiliary Library 888.4 .JF78

Tanner Philosophy 888.4 .JF78

1952

Title Page

Opening Dialogue

Phaedrus / translated with introd. and commentary by R. Hackforth. Cambridge: University

Press, 1952.

©1952, Cambridge University Press.

Green Library Stacks B380.A5H32

Classics Dept B380.A5H32

1995

Title Page

Opening Dialogue

Phaedrus / translated, with introduction and notes, by Alexander Nehamas & Paul Woodruff

; with a selection of early Greek poems and fragments about love, translated by Paul

Woodruff. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1995.

©1995, Hackett

Green Library Stacks B380 .A5 N44 1995

How can we go about trying to understand Plato, when so much--the whole history of

Western philosophy--separates us from him? How well can we ever hope to understand him?

... It is tempting to answer these questions in a resigned, negative manner. We might think

that there is no good method of approaching a thinker who wrote dramatic philosophical

works...and who...never spoke in his own voice; no hope that whatever approach we adopt,

we will be able to understand at all well an author who lived--socially, intellectually,

emotionally, and ideologically--in a world so different from ours... The essays collected in

this volume, written roughly over the last twenty-five years, reject these skeptical answers.

From: Nehamas, Alexander. Virtues of Authenticity: Essays on Plato and Socrates. Princeton:

Princeton University Press, 1999: p.[xv].

©1999, Princeton University Press.

The Phaedrus is a dialogue in the most literal sense. Unlike a number of Plato's other works,

it is a conversation between two and only two people... [Phaedrus] thinks that life would be

unbearable without the pleasures of philosophical conversation [but] it is not clear that he

understands the profound effect that philosophical ideas can have on one's life. Socrates'

Great Speech may in fact be intended to convince him...that philosophy is life's most serious

activity.

From: Nehamas. Virtues of Authenticity. P.332.

©1999, Princeton University Press.

Like rhetoric, the dialogue also cannot produce knowledge but only conviction... Not to take

the Phaedrus seriously in the proper sense is to take philosophy seriously. But to take

philosophy seriously, perhaps paradoxically but also appropriately for a work that delights in

paradoxes and twists of its own, it to take the Phaedrus as well very seriously after all.

From: Nehamas. Virtues of Authenticity. P.353-354.

©1999, Princeton University Press.

The History of Translation History

ATA Chronicle, September, 1996

By Alex Gross

http://language.home.sprynet.com

alexilen@sprynet.com

Source: Translation Directory

By my count, nine useful books about translation history, specialized works aside, have been

published over the last thirty years. It must say something about where this field is going that

six of them have come out during the last seven years (and four since 1992). The latest such

work, Translators through History, edited and directed by Jean Delisle and Judith

Woodsworth, appears under the very highest auspices, being co-published by John Benjamins

and Unesco. The combined effort of fifty scholars from twenty different nations, this volume

has been five years in the making and is now published simultaneously in French and English

with assistance from several Canadian sponsors and the F.I.T.

The editors have set out to create "a selective and thematic overview" rather than "an

exhaustive study of the history of translation,...without compromising ...standards of

scholarship...they have sought to make the book readable and accessible to as wide an

audience as possible." The volume is divided into nine chapters, each covering one of the

roles played by translators over the ages: inventors of alphabets, developers of national

languages, creators of national literatures, disseminators of knowledge, accessories to power,

religious proselytizers, transmitters of cultural values, authors of dictionaries, and interpreters

as the middlemen of history.

To their outstanding credit, the editors and their collaborators make a truly impressive

showing in each of these fields, no small achievement within the limitations of a few hundred

pages. The work is supplemented by 24 illustrations, two appendices, a bibliography, and an

index. Perhaps most important, this is the first general work on translation history to abandon

a purely Eurocentric perspective (though a pending ATA exhibit proposal also favors this

approach).

This work is almost overwhelming in the sheer number and richness of strands, episodes, and

anecdotes it embraces, moving with seeming effortlessness from the Seventh Century

Chinese monk Xuanzang to modern Cameroon to the creation of the Cree syllabary in the

early Nineteenth Century. As we visit Baghdad, we learn that the master translator Hunayn

ibn Ishaq was paid in gold for his work according to its weight (and hence tended to use thick

paper!), that Gerard of Cremona wandered from Italy to Toledo in 1157 simply because he

wanted to find a copy of Ptolemy's Almagest for himself, that Doña Marina's ghost still lurks

along the edge of Mexico City's zócalo, that French Canadian translators protested in vain

against politicians, who insisted "Dominion of Canada" must be translated "Puissance de

Canada."

This book is certainly an indispensable tool for anyone interested in translation history. But it

should perhaps also be admitted at the same time that no single book in this field can be

considered a model of clarity or accessibility. Of these works (see bibliography at end),

perhaps Rener's and Kelly's should receive the lowest grades for their overall meaning-to-

verbiage ratio, though both certainly have useful insights to offer. Even for someone familiar

with the material, the current work also leaves something to be desired. Parts of it read even

more drably than most history texts, and sentences like the following are all too common:

"In the twentieth century, as in the nineteenth, the United States was divided by conflicting

ideological tendencies, some of them conservative and others more liberal."

"In fact, religion was only one of several motives for the many expeditions from the Old

World to the New; missions were also carried out for the purposes of commerce, power and

territorial expansion."

Wooden language abounds, and the chapter on dictionaries reads remarkably like a laundry

list of such works through the ages, though such a list will surely be valuable to specialists.

And many other passages, both in the chapter on evolving world literatures and elsewhere,

resemble what Jir¡ Levy called mere "literary chitchat" and/or the all too predictable

harumphings of Gregory Rabassa's "Professor Horrendo."

Perhaps most unfortunately, given the book's theme, parts of it actually read "like a

translation." From internal evidence it would appear that at some point during the bilingual

publishing process, the entire text of the book was converted into French for a "final"

proofreading and then reconverted into English with little further checking, leaving behind

such French spellings as Marchak (Marshak), Guatemoc (Cuauhtémoc), and La Coruna (La

Coruña). Equally distracting are countless text-embedded footnotes stuffed with sources,

dates, or titles, greatly reducing the work's readability—these could have been assigned

lettered footnotes (to distinguish them from endnotes) and placed at the bottom of the page.

Despite the number of scholars involved, there are still some glaring errors, among them the

Western invention of printing in the fourteenth century (p.102), the assertion that Greek and

Roman medicine were "of Indian origin" (p. 108—over time their cross-fertilization was far

more complex), the strange use in English of the French term "Americanist" (p. 149), and a

misleading explanation of the differences between Mahayana and Hinayana Buddhism (p.

125). Two major oversights: the book almost totally ignores Japan and Korea and also fails to

mention that the great Baghdad renaissance actually began in the Persian town of

Jundishapur.

Given its UNESCO auspices, Translators through History certainly does its best to avoid any

statement that could ruffle international feathers—in the Nuremberg trial section it even

contains an endnote for the young detailing the nationalities of the "Allies" and the "war

criminals." And yet the editors' well-meant attempt at even-handedness finally ends in failure.

In the material they have chosen, they have been unable to resist the persistent quirk of

extreme francophilia, a failing that finally leads almost to comedy. Not only do they insist

that the entire twelfth century "Toledo School" of translation was under "French" direction,

via monks from the Cluny monastery at in central France (and this at a time when Cathar,

Bogomil, and diehard Arabist influences ran rampant throughout the South, when neither

France nor the French language was in an advanced state of formation), not only is an attempt

made to exonerate French church fathers for burning translator-martyr Étienne Dolet at the

stake (see next selection on Translation Menu), but an even more amazing claim is made for

French Calvinist missionaries in the jungles of Brazil.

While both the English and Spanish had a very poor record of training interpreters during

their early explorations, according to our co-editors the French were far more fortunate:

"It is believed that Norman navigators anchored at the mouth of the Amazon even before

Columbus reached the shores of the New World. Some Frenchmen, referred to in the French

accounts as truchements de Normandie or 'Norman interpreters'...had moved into the villages,

learned the language, cohabited with the women, had children by them and allegedly adopted

all their practices, even cannibalism. While these truchements were an embarrassment to the

French missionaries, they were immensely valuable to them as liaison agents."

This episode allegedly took place in 1555, which means that these truchements—or their

grandchildren—would have needed to retain their French for at least 65 years, assuming they

had arrived no earlier than two years before Columbus. But this story, which adds up to

nothing less than the claim that the French discovered America, was inspired by a typical

Sixteenth Century "traveler's tale" and deserves no logical analysis at all. Even histories of

translation must still obey historiographical rules, and today's historians are united in

dismissing most claims of successful new world colonization prior to Columbus—whether by

Normans, Welsh, Irish, Vikings, Phoenicians, Egyptians, or Israelites—as poppycock, and

this tale does not belong in a serious history. Another recognizably French feature—as Mary

McCarthy pointed out long ago—is an inadequate index, containing a mere fraction of the

text's many names of persons and places. So French does the book become that it even quotes

from that great Frenchman and former ATA President Henri Fischbach. [he is of course

better known to ATA members as "Henry"] Greater clarity would also have been served by

listing the authors of each chapter at its beginning rather than grouping them in italics at the

end.

Despite these objections, books like Translators through History are still of enormous value:

they offer a rich harvest for those prepared to cut their way through their burgeoning

undergrowth. But some of the greatest figures and movements throughout this history upheld

a different vision for translation, even for communication itself, than the one presented by our

scholars. Martin Luther demanded language for "the common man in the marketplace," King

Alfred the Great insisted on "language that we all can understand," Alfonso X of Castile

called out for texts that were llanos de entender ("easy to understand"), while Hunayn ibn

Ishaq wanted his medical texts to be understood by someone "who was not a medical

specialist, or who was unacquainted with philosophy." During both the French Revolution

and nineteenth-century political unrest in India, voices cried out insistently for precisely these

goals. All of these examples can be found in the current volume. Against this background, it

seems supremely ironic—and may well explain many of the problems facing our

profession—that we have still not evolved a style for explaining the history and principles of

translation to our fellow citizens in a clear and simple way. As advanced as this book

undoubtedly is, the field of translation history may still be in its infancy.

Translators through History, edited by Jean Delisle and Judith Woodsworth, 346 pp., Cloth:

$85.00 (1-55619-694-6), Paper: $31.95 (1-55619-697-0), is available from John Benjamins

Publishing Company, Philadelphia, TEL: (800) 562-5666

The need for translation has existed since time immemorial and translating important literary

works from one language into others has contributed significantly to the development of

world culture. Ideas and forms of one culture have constantly moved and got assimilated into

other cultures through the works of translators. The history of translation is related to the

history of the often invisible cross cultural interactions of the world.

Ideas and concepts from the East notably India, China and Iraq have influenced the Western

culture since as early as sixth century B.C. when trade ties were first established between

India and the Mediterranean countries. Many medical theories of Plato and Galen of Greece

had considerable influence from those of India. Many of the philosophical and scientific

works of ancient Greece were rendered into Arabic as early as ninth century A.D. This

knowledge spread to Europe via Spain which was a predominantly a Muslim country then.

The school of translators of Toledo in Spain established by Alfonso VI of Castile and Leon in

1085 AD was responsible for translations from Arabic to Latin and then to Spanish these

scientific and technological work which later led to the European Renaissance. Despite their

key contributions, ancient translators have often remained unknown or in the background and

the credit due to them have not been acknowledged. They have done their job with

painstaking efforts despite many violent conflicts that have dotted throughout history.

Translators have enabled Holy Scriptures like the Bible written in esoteric languages like

Latin to be understood by ordinary people by translating them into more common languages

without depending on a few elite priests or the members of clergy to explain what they

contained. Some translators even had to pay with their life for doing it like the famous Bible

translators Willaim Tyndale who was arrested and executed in Holland by the king in 1536

for translating the Bible from its original languages into the common vernacular of English.

Chinese monk Xuanzang is supposed to have translated 74 volumes of Buddhist scriptures

originating from India in to Chinese in 645 AD. One of the earliest recorded translations of

considerable effort in English is perhaps the translation of the Bible around 1100 AD. British

translator Constance Garnett made the translating community proud through her brilliant

translations of Russian classics including those of Turgenev, Gogol, Tolstoy, Chekhov and

Dostoyevski in late 19th century. Another famous translator is Gregory Rabassa who has

translated many Latin American fictions into English. Dr. Arthur Waley is one of the world’s

foremost translators of the twentieth century of Chinese and Japanese literature into English.

More recently Gladys Yang translated many Chinese classics into English over the last 50

years.

Thus translators have made important contribution over the centuries in dissemination of

ideas and information to a larger audience, in shaping of cultures and in a sense helped unite

the world.

About AILIA

Translation

Interpretation

Language Training

Language Technologies

Terminology

Events

Translation: An age-old industry? Take a look!

If you think the language industry is new, think again! For as far back as we can see, man has

needed to communicate; so the origin of translation is closely intertwined with that of

language itself. It’s no coincidence that the oldest myth about translation is that of the Tower

of Babel. Virtually upon the tower’s destruction, man needed a language industry; so

translation can be seen as an enterprise in building, the building of meaning.

Translation is integrally related to reading and writing culture. It is a writing art and is as old

as writing itself. In Ancient Greece and Rome, texts were translated; the scope of economic

and cultural exchange required the work of translators. What’s more, in Rome, every

educated man had to know how to translate! But it was really with the conversion of the West

to Christianity that translation began to convey identity, that it had to become organized...

become an industry of sorts! A real school of translation was created in Toledo, where

documents were translated from Greek and Hebrew, but especially Arabic, since the House of

Wisdom (A distant ancestor of the Translation Bureau!) in Baghdad had translated numerous

works into that language, often the only copies then available. And what can be said about the

monasteries of the Middle Ages? Weren’t they somewhat like translation firms? The work

they produced paved the way for the renaissance of culture!

The first systematic analyses of language were based on translation, and it was thanks to the

work of translators that national literatures were able to develop. At a certain point,

translation even provided an opportunity to be unfaithful... And who said translators were

boring? In fact, they know how to translate for the times, and it was with that in mind that the

industry began to come together in the 18th century... The translation industry no longer

served strictly people and faith, it also strove to serve culture.

In a country like Canada, translation, terminology and language analysis are nothing new.

And since our country is continuing to develop, the language industry, like it, is resolutely

focused on the future.

AILIA is a link with History... Today, we are even writing it.

History

The first important translation in the West was that of the Septuagint, a collection

of Jewish Scriptures translated into early Koine Greek in Alexandria between the 3rd and 1st

centuries BCE. The dispersed Jews had forgotten their ancestral language and needed Greek

versions (translations) of their Scriptures.[47]

Throughout the Middle Ages, Latin was the lingua franca of the western learned world. The

9th-century Alfred the Great, king of Wessex in England, was far ahead of his time in

commissioning vernacular Anglo-Saxon translations of Bede's Ecclesiastical

History and Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy. Meanwhile the Christian Church frowned

on even partial adaptations of Jerome’s Vulgate of ca. 384 CE,[48] the standard Latin Bible.

In Asia, the spread of Buddhism led to large-scale ongoing translation efforts spanning well

over a thousand years. The Tangut Empire was especially efficient in such efforts; exploiting

the then newly invented block printing, and with the full support of the government

(contemporary sources describe the Emperor and his mother personally contributing to the

translation effort, alongside sages of various nationalities), the Tanguts took mere decades to

translate volumes that had taken the Chinese centuries to render.

Large-scale efforts at translation were undertaken by the Arabs. Having conquered the Greek

world, they made Arabic versions of its philosophical and scientific works. During

the Middle Ages, some translations of these Arabic versions were made into Latin, chiefly

at Córdoba in Spain.[49] Such Latin translations of Greek and original Arab works of

scholarship and science helped advance the development of European Scholasticism.

Geoffrey Chaucer

The broad historic trends in Western translation practice may be illustrated on the example of

translation into the English language.

The first fine translations into English were made in the 14th century by Geoffrey Chaucer,

who adapted from the Italian of Giovanni Boccaccio in his own Knight's Tale and Troilus

and Criseyde; began a translation of the French-language Roman de la Rose; and completed a

translation of Boethius from the Latin. Chaucer founded an English poetic tradition

on adaptations and translations from those earlier-established literary languages.[49]

The first great English translation was the Wycliffe Bible (ca. 1382), which showed the

weaknesses of an underdeveloped English prose. Only at the end of the 15th century did the

great age of English prose translation begin with Thomas Malory's Le Morte Darthur—an

adaptation of Arthurian romances so free that it can, in fact, hardly be called a true

translation. The first great Tudor translations are, accordingly, the Tyndale New

Testament (1525), which influenced the Authorized Version(1611), and Lord Berners' version

of Jean Froissart's Chronicles (1523–25).[49]

Marsilio Ficino

Meanwhile, in Renaissance Italy, a new period in the history of translation had opened

in Florence with the arrival, at the court of Cosimo de' Medici, of

the Byzantine scholarGeorgius Gemistus Pletho shortly before the fall of Constantinople to

the Turks (1453). A Latin translation of Plato's works was undertaken by Marsilio Ficino.

This andErasmus' Latin edition of the New Testament led to a new attitude to translation. For

the first time, readers demanded rigor of rendering, as philosophical and religious beliefs

depended on the exact words of Plato, Aristotle and Jesus.[49]

Non-scholarly literature, however, continued to rely

on adaptation. France's Pléiade, England's Tudor poets, and the Elizabethan translators

adapted themes by Horace,Ovid, Petrarch and modern Latin writers, forming a new poetic

style on those models. The English poets and translators sought to supply a new public,

created by the rise of a middle class and the development of printing, with works such as the

original authors would have written, had they been writing in England in that day.[49]

Edward FitzGerald

The Elizabethan period of translation saw considerable progress beyond

mere paraphrase toward an ideal of stylistic equivalence, but even to the end of this period,

which actually reached to the middle of the 17th century, there was no concern

for verbal accuracy.[50]

In the second half of the 17th century, the poet John Dryden sought to make Virgil speak "in

words such as he would probably have written if he were living and an Englishman". Dryden,

however, discerned no need to emulate the Roman poet's subtlety and concision.

Similarly, Homer suffered from Alexander Pope's endeavor to reduce the Greek poet's "wild

paradise" to order.[50]

Benjamin Jowett

Throughout the 18th century, the watchword of translators was ease of reading. Whatever

they did not understand in a text, or thought might bore readers, they omitted. They

cheerfully assumed that their own style of expression was the best, and that texts should be

made to conform to it in translation. For scholarship they cared no more than had their

predecessors, and they did not shrink from making translations from translations in third

languages, or from languages that they hardly knew, or—as in the case of James

Macpherson's "translations" of Ossian—from texts that were actually of the "translator's"

own composition.[50]

The 19th century brought new standards of accuracy and style. In regard to accuracy,

observes J.M. Cohen, the policy became "the text, the whole text, and nothing but the text",

except for any bawdy passages and the addition of copious explanatory footnotes.[51] In

regard to style, the Victorians' aim, achieved through far-reaching metaphrase(literality)

or pseudo-metaphrase, was to constantly remind readers that they were reading

a foreign classic. An exception was the outstanding translation in this period,Edward

FitzGerald's Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (1859), which achieved its Oriental flavor largely

by using Persian names and discreet Biblical echoes and actually drew little of its material

from the Persian original.[50]

In advance of the 20th century, a new pattern was set in 1871 by Benjamin Jowett, who

translated Plato into simple, straightforward language. Jowett's example was not followed,

however, until well into the new century, when accuracy rather than style became the

principal criterion.[50]

[edit]Modern translation

As languages change, texts in an earlier version of a language – either original texts or old

translations – may be difficult for more modern readers to understand. Texts may thus be

translated into more modern language, called a modern translation (sometimes modern

English translation or modernized translation).

This is particularly done either for literature from classical languages (such

as Latin or Greek), most prominently the Bible (see Modern English Bible translations), or

for literature from an earlier stage of the same language, such as the works of William

Shakespeare (which is largely understandable to a modern audience, but presents some

difficulties), or The Canterbury Tales ofGeoffrey Chaucer (which is not generally

understandable to modern readers). Modern translation is applicable to any language with a

long literary history; for example in Japanese, The Tale of Genji (11th century) is generally

read in modern translation – see Genji: modern readership.

Modern translation often involves literary scholarship and textual revisions, as there is

frequently not a single canonical text. This is particularly noteworthy in the case of the Bible

and Shakespeare, where modern scholarship can result in significant changes to the text.

Modern translation meets with opposition from some traditionalists; in English this is most

significant in some people preferring the Authorized King James Version of the Bible to

modern translations, and to reading Shakespeare in the original (c. 1600) text, rather than in

modern translation.

An opposite process is found in translating modern literature into classical language,

particularly for the goal of extensive reading – see List of Latin translations of modern

literature for examples.

[edit]Poetry

Douglas Hofstadter

Poetry presents special challenges to translators, given the importance of a text's formal

aspects, in addition to its content. In his influential 1959 paper "On Linguistic Aspects of

Translation", the Russian-born linguist and semiotician Roman Jakobson went so far as to

declare that "poetry by definition [is] untranslatable".

In 1974 the American poet James Merrill wrote a poem, "Lost in Translation", which in part

explores this idea. The question was also discussed in Douglas Hofstadter's 1997 book, Le

Ton beau de Marot; he argues that a good translation of a poem must convey as much as

possible of not only its literal meaning but also its form and structure (meter, rhyme or

alliteration scheme, etc.).[52]

[edit]Sung texts

Catherine Winkworth

Translation of a text that is sung in vocal music for the purpose of singing in another

language — sometimes called "singing translation" — is closely linked to translation of

poetry because most vocal music, at least in the Western tradition, is set to verse, especially

verse in regular patterns withrhyme. (Since the late 19th century, musical setting

of prose and free verse has also been practiced in some art music, though popular music tends

to remain conservative in its retention of stanzaic forms with or without refrains.) A

rudimentary example of translating poetry for singing is church hymns, such as the

Germanchorales translated into English by Catherine Winkworth.[53]

Translation of sung texts is generally much more restrictive than translation of poetry,

because in the former there is little or no freedom to choose between a versified translation

and a translation that dispenses with verse structure. One might modify or omit rhyme in a

singing translation, but the assignment of syllables to specific notes in the original musical

setting places great challenges on the translator. There is the option in prose sung texts, less

so in verse, of adding or deleting a syllable here and there by subdividing or combining notes,

respectively, but even with prose the process is almost like strict verse translation because of

the need to stick as closely as possible to the original prosody of the sung melodic line.

Other considerations in writing a singing translation include repetition of words and phrases,

the placement of rests and/or punctuation, the quality of vowels sung on high notes, and

rhythmic features of the vocal line that may be more natural to the original language than to

the target language. A sung translation may be considerably or completely different from the

original, thus resulting in a contrafactum.

Translations of sung texts — whether of the above type meant to be sung or of a more or less

literal type meant to be read — are also used as aids to audiences, singers and conductors,

when a work is being sung in a language not known to them. The most familiar types are

translations presented as subtitles or surtitles projected during opera performances, those

inserted into concert programs, and those that accompany commercial audio CDs of vocal

music. In addition, professional and amateur singers often sing works in languages they do

not know (or do not know well), and translations are then used to enable them to understand

the meaning of the words they are singing.

[edit]Religious texts

Further information: Bible translations and Translation of the Qur'an

Saint Jerome, patron saint of translators andencyclopedists

Mistranslation: hornedMoses, by Michelangelo

An important role in history has been played by translation of religious

texts. Buddhist monks who translated the Indian sutras intoChinese often skewed their

translations to better reflect China's distinct culture, emphasizing notions such as filial piety.

One of the first recorded instances of translation in the West was the rendering of the Old

Testament into Greek in the 3rd century BCE. The translation is known as the "Septuagint", a

name that refers to the seventy translators (seventy-two, in some versions) who were

commissioned to translate the Bible at Alexandria, Egypt. Each translator worked in solitary

confinement in his own cell, and according to legend all seventy versions proved identical.

The Septuagint became the source text for later translations into many languages,

includingLatin, Coptic, Armenian and Georgian.

Still considered one of the greatest translators in history, for having rendered

the Bible into Latin, is Saint Jerome, the patron saint of translation. For centuries the Roman

Catholic Church used his translation (known as the Vulgate), though even this translation at

first stirred controversy.

The period preceding, and contemporary with, the Protestant Reformation saw the translation

of the Bible into local European languages — a development that contributed to Western

Christianity's split into Roman Catholicism and Protestantism due to disparities between

Catholic and Protestant versions of crucial words and passages. Lasting effects on the

religions, cultures and languages of their respective countries have been exerted by

such Bible translations as Martin Luther's into German, Jakub Wujek's into Polish, and

the King James Bible's translators' into English.

A famous mistranslation of the Bible is the rendering of the Hebrew word קֶרֶן (keren), which

has several meanings, as "horn" in a context where it actually means "beam of light". As a

result, for centuries artists have depicted Moses the Lawgiver with horns growing out of his

forehead; an example is Michelangelo's famous sculpture. Some Christians with anti-

Semitic feelings have used such depictions to spread hatred of the Jews, claiming that they

were devils with horns.