Translation theory Chapter 1. Historical overview of translation

1.1. The notion of translation theory

The term ‘translation theory’ (TT) is used as a synonym of several other terms accepted with a similar meaning in translation studies by Russian and foreign scholars: ‘translatology’, ‘translation studies’, «переводоведение», «теория перевода». In works on translation it is currently used with a number of senses. In his dictionary «Толковый переводоведческий словарь» L.L.Nelyubin included the following three meanings of the term «теория перевода»: 1) a logically grounded model of bi-lingual communication; 2) a scientifically based comparison of two language systems which draws upon practitioners’ experience and makes scientific observations of language facts; 3) a scholarly discipline which establishes regular interrelations and correspondences between a source language text (SLT) and a target language text (TLT) and considers major translation topics related to methodology and techniques of translation [Нелюбин 2003:223].

These three interpretations of the notion are equally important as they focus on different interdependent aspects of the complicated phenomenon of the theory and practice of translation and should be considered as part and parcel of a single whole.

It is well known that the practice of translation is one of the oldest activities in the world. Human history shows that “before there was writing, there was speaking”. Neighboring tribes and nations spoke different dialects and even different languages, so they needed interpreters in order to engage in trade, to threaten each other and afterwards to conduct peace talks. In the opinion of historians of translation studies, the functions of translation activity were restricted to getting information across to one another and conveying messages [Steiner 1977; Нелюбин, Хухуни 2006]. From the beginning of time, interpreters were considered an important asset for the community. Other functions especially those related to translating belles lettres were not as yet performed by this type of human activity.

Scholars tend to believe that the early history of written translation is intertwined with the history of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic world in which three key periods have determined those three civilizations and are characterized by a high level of activity in the field of translation:

1. the first period is the beginning of the Christian era, at which time nations speaking languages like Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and Latin interacted to create the new Christian civilization and the transformed Judaic civilization;

2. the second period begins with the birth of Islam in the 7^th century and culminates in the 12^th-13^th centuries when Christian, Muslim and Jewish scholars and translators from all parts of Europe and the Middle East undertook in the Spanish city of Toledo the task of translating the Greek and Arabic classics first into Latin and later into the new languages and cultures of Europe which provided the bridge to the Renaissance and the Modern World;

3. the third period is connected with the modern civilizations during which the role of translation has been critical in shaping new civilizations, in promoting socio-economic, linguistic and cultural equality. Translation has entered a new golden age in conditions of a new cultural openness and global communications. The Bible has been translated into over 2000 languages and dialects of the world and remains the bestbook for translators because, according to M. Sofer, it has “the attributes of all superior translations – clarity, brevity, simplicity” [Sofer 1999].

Thus, it is clear from the above that the history of translation begins with religion and eventually leads into secular culture. Language has always been a critical element of religion and has been considered sacred which explains why translating religious texts was never taken lightly. Suffice it to mention that it took the Catholic Church centuries before it decided in the 1960s to allow celebrating Mass in the vernacular, rather than in Latin.

The Judeo-Christian-Muslem world is believed to have derived its culture from a common source, namely, a set of books originally written in Hebrew, known to Christians as the Old Testament, to Muslims as the Holy Books and to Jews as the Tanakh [Grollenberg 1988]. The Hebrew Bible was created in roughly 1300-300 B.C.

The early translations of the Bible were made in various areas into the most important languages. In Babylonia, Syria, Palestine the Bible was translated into the Aramaic language, in Egypt it was translated into Greek (this version is known as the Septuagint which played a crucial role in the development of Christianity). Later St. Jerome (347-419), the patron saint of translators in the Catholic Church, translated both the Greek and Hebrew versions of the Bible into Latin and produced the Vulgate, the standard Bible of the Church for the next thousand years. The two brothers, St. Cyril and St. Methodius, introduced Christianity to the Slavic world. They translated the Holy Scriptures into the language later known as Old Church Slavonic. In the 9^th century the Bible was translated into English, French, German. An outstanding role in this process was played by Martin Luther who not only broke away from Rome and helped establish Protestantism, but also paid close attention to the principles of translation, including the transmission of meaning to the target language, the emphasis on clarity and simplicity of translation which are regarded as valid in modern translation theory. Translations of the Scriptures were soon to follow in Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Icelandic and other languages. In England the Authorized Version of the Bible was published in 1611 and together with the work of Shakespeare it is believed to stand at the apex of English culture.

In Islam, the Qur’an is considered untranslatable, that’s why hundreds of its translations are known as “explanations” rather than “authorized versions”. As the Muslim empire spread, Islamic scholars started translating the classics including works in philosophy, astronomy, medicine thus building a bridge between antiquity and the modern world.