The Baha'i Studies Listserv
On 15 Jan 2009 at 3:31, firestorm wrote:
> that suggests to me that the translators are accepting the
> infallibility of the Guardian--not that of potential readers. i find
> that a relatively Coventally sound praxis, relating to the discussion
> ongoing of the Faith's doctrine not being dtermined by majorits,
> pluralaties, etecetc. but amu remcalling "sui generis" correctly? :-)
It is a good practice, although translation is not the sphere of the
Guardian's infallibility. It is a good practice because it means
terms are used consistently. I do the same: there has to be a very
good reason for me to differ from the Guardian's choice of words.
However the Guardian himself takes one word and translates it 6
different ways, or he translates a text one way, and a few years
later changes that translation. Take the fifth candle of unity for
example: in WOB it is
The fifth candle is the unity of nations [wahdat-e watan] --a unity
which in this century [qarn] will be securely established,
causing all the peoples of the world to regard themselves as
citizens of one common fatherland.
but in his earlier translation, published in The Bahai World it reads:
The fifth candle is national unity which in this century will be
securely established, causing all the peoples and nations of the
world to regard themselves as citizens of one common fatherland.
In this case, I think "unity of nations" is the better translation;
the earlier translation is word-for-word, but it is not what Abdu'l-
Baha meant.
So following the Guardian's practice is not a straight-jacket, and it
does not reduce the translator's responsibility to try to get it
right. It's just one more factor to consider - that consistency with
previous translations is desirable in itself, like a common currency,
or the system of Latin biological names
Sen
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