Beyond free and literal: Translating a Buddhist text (Bodhicaryavatarapanjika) from Sanskrit

Date

2012

Authors

Nelson, Barbara

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

University of Sydney

Abstract

Translators appear to face a dilemma: do they aim for a 'literal' or 'free' translation of their source text (ST). Munday observes that translators of both literary and non-literary texts face a bind: translators who stray too far from the original text are open to criticism, yet readers prefer that the target text (TT) read as if written in the target language. Translation theorists have developed a range of approaches to thinking about translation that move beyond a simple literal/free dichotomy. This apparent dilemma was the starting point for a reflection on the aims and strategies I used for translating the kᚣantiparamita chapter of Santideva's Bodhicaryavatara (eighth century) with the eleventh-century commentary of Prajnakaramati (Bodhicaryavatarapanjika), a Buddhist text in Sanskrit, for my PhD thesis.

Description

Keywords

Citation

Source

Journal of the Oriental Society of Australia

Type

Journal article

Book Title

Entity type

Access Statement

License Rights

DOI

Restricted until

2037-12-31