Sun. Jan. 13, 2013 (Derek Carr)

On January 13th, Derek Carr (Reader at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, thespian, and former Head of UBC's Department of French, Italian, and Hispanic Studies) spoke most engagingly on "Translation, Interpretation, and Salvation". When attending Mass at Holy Guardian Angel in Barcelona last summer, Derek noticed that the Mass, translated into Catalan, retained certain linguistic traditions which had been lost in the English translation used in his church (just a block north of our Centre). As a specialist in translating and in Linguistic Studies, he knew all too well the pitfalls facing any translator--pitfalls which face each and every scholar involved in translating the bibles on which we rely. Translation often involves a rewriting of an original text, the including of one's views on the text. Translations can even suppress or reinterpret. For example, there is general disagreement concerning what the angels reportedly declared to the shepherds (Luke): "goodwill toward men", "peace to his people on earth", "and on earth peace to men whom the Lord esteems" (Catalan), "peace to men he loves" (French). Some translators prefer to adhere to the sense of the Latin, some try to mirror current thinking in their denominations, some try to speak to the unchurched, and some like to mirror societal concerns such as inclusive language (mandated at UBC). These possibilities baffle any who are not linguists, and they also even baffle linguists. However, the general sense of our texts is more or less on-track, for which we can give thanks. [JEK]

Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, January 13th, 2013 using your browser's preferred media player.