3 ms·
Maybe it's just me, but "modern" and "context-aware" are the two things I most want to avoid when seeking out a translation of an ancient text.
by paytonjjones 2mo ago
Maybe it's just me, but "modern" and "context-aware" are the two things I most want to avoid when seeking out a translation of an ancient text.
- dbuxton 2mo agoThere's no such thing as a "timeless" translation - if you read something written by Victorians you'll get all sorts of overlaid assumptions and biases, just ones that are unfamiliar
- suddenlybananas 2mo agoThey didn't say they wanted a timeless translation.
- adamdb 2mo agoContinually revising a text to be modern and context-aware would indeed make it timeless.
- paytonjjones 2mo agoFor me, that unfamiliarity is precisely the point of reading something ancient.
- Bootvis 2mo agoThen you need to read the original. A translator is a product of their time.