Language Disconnect: The Implications of Bible Translation upon Gospel Work in Africa
Implication Four. Are African-language Bibles being translated in a Western way? Expert translation is presumably assumed to be in some way objective. Many Bible translators are highly skilled in the art of transferring meanings[15] between languages. Many diverse principles for effective translation are known and taught. The discussion on Figures 3 and 4 above suggests that there are areas of non-compatibility in translation. This begs the question; how do translators, including expert translators, translate into a context that they do not know? A parallel question: how do people translate out-of a context with which they are not familiar? (A Westerner translating the Bible into an African language is usually translating into an unknown context. An African translating an African language from a European milieu will typically be translating from an unknown context.) How is Bible translation affected by the dominance of Western thinkers in the translation process?
Implication Five. The missions’ world seems to me to be badly missing linguists. Perhaps linguists also are badly missing missiologists. I have periodically attempted to publish a paper in SIL journals. The response I frequently get is “we do not do missiology or theology, we only do linguistics”. This makes me think that perhaps I am missing something? If SILs prime concern is to translate the Bible then how can they not be concerned for missiology?
While Bible translators may be logistically very expert and may have translated or facilitated the translation of Bibles into numerous minority languages, uptake and use of those Bibles can sometimes be minimal. It is as a result of this as I understand that SIL now has projects aimed at Bible use. Surely this is engaging in missiology?
Bible translation can be very good at soaking up available linguist expertise. Linguistically orientated Christians easily become involved in Bible translation. Thousands of Christians working in many countries in the globe are so engaged. Unfortunately, as linguistically minded personnel are drawn into Bible translation, the rest of the missions world can be suffering from a dearth of linguistic wisdom. This is evident in many ways. One clear evidence for this is in how theological education around the world has been monopolised by European languages, especially English. Many mission agencies and initiatives are too bereft of linguistic expertise to perceive any problem with this situation. They happily go on presupposing that what they teach in English can easily be brought to relevance in all of the world’s weird and wonderful exotic cultures that should be being Christianised. The missions’ world desperately needs linguists!
In all too many parts of the world now we have two arms of the Western church working in opposite directions. On one side we have Bible translators busy translating the Bible and encouraging people to read it and use it. On the other side we have endless mission initiatives making as sure as possible (in effect) that the real power in the majority world church remains in European languages. Theological colleges around the African continent are changing towards becoming universities and towards swallowing the modern project hook-line-and-sinker. What is the underlying objective behind such? Is it giving glory to God, or is it more about money?
The world of mission needs people with linguistic understanding and expertise. I cannot help but suspect also that Bible translators need to benefit from some expertise that is found primarily in the world of mission.
Conclusion
Language translation results in various degrees of connection. Similar, usually neighbouring languages (i.e. cultures) can connect quite effectively through translation. Unfortunately differing underlying pre-suppositions in little-related languages can result in translation resulting in major disconnect. This applies especially historically unrelated languages such as those of Europe and those of Africa. This largely ignored situation in todays globalising systems of education and governance has major implications across the fields of mission and development as well as more specific relevance to Bible translation. An astute observer will find that so-called modernisation on the continent of Africa being almost invariably guided by European languages easily results in enormous unhealthy dependency. Why is it that despite the existence of scores or hundreds or thousands of profoundly complex African languages that connect intimately with African peoples’ ways of life, these languages are never used inter-regionally for high-level governance or education?
Category: In Depth, Winter 2016