Coherence of Translation Programs and the Contexts of Translation Movements, ca. 1000–1700 AD
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Why did pre-modern translators produce their translated texts?What societal, scholarly, and historical factors influenced their activities?How did such factors together create a coherent set of triggers behind translation efforts and the goals translators pursued?This Special Issue aims to explore the complex historical, literary, and material backgrounds that fostered the production of translations between an array of source and target languages, including Greek, Latin, Armenian, and various vernaculars.The essays span a broad timeframe, from the Middle Ages to the end of the Renaissance.The volume investigates the motivations and enabling factors that facilitated the creation of translations and their reception by different audiences.The variety of source and target languages establishes a comparative framework that enriches our understanding of the translation process as a multifaceted historical phenomenon.Péter Bara explores translations from Greek into Latin between 1050 and 1350.Instead of focusing on a specific translator or group of translators, the essay adopts a programmatic approach to the period in question.Bara seeks to explain how translations were produced against the backdrop of specific historical contexts and the defining characteristics of the epoch.Additionally, Bara emphasizes the societal dimension of translating texts from Greek into Latin.The essay conceptualizes translation as a decision-making process in which translators, scholars, and patrons acted as key agents.The model he proposes takes into account the influence of audiences on the translation process.To this end, the essay identifies four hypotheses, each corresponding to a distinct research area.Hiram Kümper studies the Fecunda ratis, an eleventh-century Latin didactic poem.The essay highlights several historical and cultural contexts that decisively shaped the poem's content and generated new knowledge through their interaction.Egbert of Liège, the author, composed the poem for an audience at the cathedral school of Liège.The poem survives in a single manuscript, which shows signs of extensive use.It served to prepare students for proper, exemplary Christian conduct and for later specialization in theology.Accordingly, the
Source: Hungarian Historical Review
DOI: 10.38145/2025.2.155
Author: Péter Bara
Institution: Institute of History
Language: English
Subfield: Language and Linguistics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4411907763