5 In this study I prefer to use the term ‘paratext’. It is a term in common use and it
describes adequately the phenomena it refers to. It focuses on the relation to the text: in a publication the paratext is always accompanying the text. It is not something one can
‘supplement’ to the text at will. In fact, it is what makes a text into a publication.
1.2 The purpose of this study
During the last seventeen years I have been involved as an exegetecoordinator in four different Bible translation projects in various regions. In these projects most of the paratextual
elements, like introductions, illustrations, and footnotes, were added after the team had completed the translation, on request of the team members. In addition, the paratext was often
more or less following the example of the paratext in one or two model translations, translations in a major language Spanish, French that served as a the main reference text of
the translators. That caused sometimes discussions. For example, one of the teams had prepared textual notes to indicate where they had deviated from the Hebrew or Greek text
editions. For them that was a matter of honesty and accountability. A translation consultant questioned the use of these notes; he argued that many African evangelicals detested this kind
of notes that could easily create doubt and shock the faith of recent converts. Currently I am involved in a recently started Bible translation project. In this project
the team tries to develop the paratext together with the text of the translation. That brought up questions about the need for certain types of paratext, their form, their content and the
rationale behind them. It also brought up questions about the status of paratext and the need for it, and also the question whether the paratext really is an integral part of the translation.
between supplementary features that are printed on the same page as the text and supplementary features that are printed in the same volume, but in separate sections, see Bible translation, 303.
8
Katharine Barnwell, Supplementary Helps in Scripture Publications, Notes on Translation Vol. 8 1994 No. 2: 8-13.
6 In this study I want to survey existing literature about paratext in general and apply
this to the study of paratext in Bible translations. That will result in a description of paratext in general and of paratext in Bible translations in particular. A study of paratextual
phenomena in a number of published Bible translations will be the next step. This will be the content of the second and third chapter of this study. In the fourth chapter I want to develop a
theoretical framework that encompasses both the text and paratext of Bible translations; such an approach will help translators to see a translation and its paratext as two interrelated parts
of an integrated whole, which must be produced as such. In the fifth chapter this framework will be applied to two Bible translation projects in Benin West Africa.
7 2. PARATEXT: DEFINITION AND DESCRIPTION
In this chapter I will elaborate my definition of paratext. Using Genette’s work, I will extend his insights to paratext in translation, especially in Bible translation. A description of
characteristics and functions of paratext will be given. My focus and examples will be in the area of Bible translations.
2.1 Definition
