Journal: Conspectus
Volume: CONSPECTUS 30:1 (Oct 2020)
Article: Re-Oralizing The Word For Empowerment: A Study Of Re-Translation In Chichewa, With Special Reference To Psalm 124
Author: Ernst R. Wendland

Conspectus 30:1 (October 2020) p. 6

Re-Oralizing The Word For Empowerment: A Study Of Re-Translation In Chichewa, With Special Reference To Psalm 124

Ernst R. Wendland

Abstract

Chichewa is a major Bantu language widely spoken as a primary or secondary mode of communication in many areas of south-east Africa. Three major translations of the Bible were produced in this language during the twentieth century: the Protestant Buku Lopatulika (1922), the Catholic Malembo Oyera (1966), and the Interconfessional Buku Loyera (1998). The present study briefly investigates the different methods of translation that were employed for these Bibles in order to suggest how the last-mentioned ecumenical version has served to greatly “empower” the people, readers and hearers alike, with regard to their language, culture, theology, and a broader sense of Christian community. To illustrate this claim, selected aspects of the short Psalm 124 in these three versions are comparatively analyzed. This leads to a consideration of several additional strategies that might be implemented in order to further improve this version’s essential comprehensibility on the one hand, and its oral-aural quality, or audience-engaging popularity, on the other. In conclusion, some possible implications of this research for preparing a future enhanced, multimodal re-translation of the Chichewa Bible is proposed.

Keywords

Bible translation, contextualization, orality, theology, performance, empowerment, Chichewa

About The Author

Professor Ernst R. Wendland has lived in Zambia since 1962 and has been an instructor at Lusaka Lutheran Seminary since 1968. A former United Bible Societies Translation Consultant in Zambia, he serves (since 1999) as Professor Extraordinary in the Department of Ancient Studies at Stellenbosch University, South Africa, a dissertation examiner in Zambian languages for the University of Zambia’s Department of Literature and Languages, and as Adjunct Professor (thesis supervisor/examiner) at the South African Theological Seminary and several other universities. His research interests include various aspects of Bible translation as well as structural, stylistic, poetic, and rhetorical studies in biblical texts and/or the Bantu languages of South-Central Africa.

This article: https://www.sats.edu.za/wendland-re-oralizing-the-word-empowerment

Conspectus 30:1 (October 2020) p. 7

1. Introduction

In keeping with the main theme of the 2019 European Society for Translation Studies Congress in Stellenbosch, entitled Living Translation: People, Processes, Products, I wish to briefly explore one of ...