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0. Introduction
0.1. Motivation for research
The motivation for this research is practical as well as theoretical. My wife and I have worked with the Parkari people in a language development, literacy, and Bible
translation programme, under the auspices of the Language Project of the Church of Pakistan. Whilst translating the New Testament into the Parkari language, it was often
necessary for the translation team to change wording, or to make implicit information explicit in order to convey accurately to the intended audience the message preserved for
us in the Greek texts.
At a translation consultant workshop in summer 1993, Kathleen Callow described a theory of cognition, being developed by both linguists and cognitive psychologists, that
explains how people store information in the brain by linking it into experientially related networks, known as scenarios, which are used to structure people’s worldview and com-
munication. It was then that I realized the significance of scenario theory in giving a solid theoretical grounding for certain translation principles which have long been accepted in
practice as necessary for meaningful and accurate cross-cultural communication. I hope this study will help to weld the insights of linguistic theorists and cognitive psychologists
more tightly to the principles and practice of biblical exegesis and translation.
0.2. Translation problems requiring a theory
In translating Scripture certain problems arise which do not seem to be related to an individual issue of exegesis or lexical mismatch, but seem to be symptomatic of a deeper
underlying issue, the way communication works. It is these problems which modern linguistic theory has begun to address.
Sometimes the words of the original text do not seem to say everything they mean, e.g. Acts 12:19 “Herod … having examined the guards ordered that they be led away.”
The RSV
, like many other versions, translates: “Herod … examined the sentries and ordered that they should be put to death.” But on what theoretical basis does a translator
add this “new” concept of execution into the text? Sometimes the words of the original text do not seem to fit the situation at all, e.g.
Matthew 19:12 “there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs on account of the kingdom of heaven.” The
New Living Translation says: “and some choose not to marry
for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven.” What theory justifies changing the text from “becoming a eunuch” to “choosing not to marry”? What does the word “eunuch” mean?
Sometimes characters are introduced as though we already know who they are, when we do not, e.g. Luke 5:14, Jesus having healed a leper says “Go and show yourself to the
priest ….” What priest? There is no priest in the immediately preceding text. How do we know which priest is being referred to? And if we knew, on what theoretical basis should
we clarify that in a translation?
Sometimes the facts are clear in the text, but the rationale is not clear. We cannot read between the lines, e.g. in Mark 5:33, about the woman who had an “issue of blood”,
we read: “then the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her,
Scenarios, Discourse, and Translation 2
came and fell before him and told him the whole truth.” Why was she afraid? What was the “whole truth”? Something is obviously going on here, but we are not told what it is.
And if we do know what it is, on what theoretical basis should we add it to the text when we translate?
Sometimes we are given clues to understand why characters act the way they do, but we do not spot them. Instead, we infer our own reasons, from our own viewpoint, e.g. in
Luke 10:25–37, the parable of the Good Samaritan, why did the priest and the Levite pass by on the other side? Most English readers conclude they were uncaring people, who did
not love their neighbour, unlike the Samaritan, who cared. But the text does not say Is it important to know why characters act as they do? What clues are in the text? If we know
why they acted in this way, should we “add” it to the text in a translation? Is there an applicable theory?
I believe that the theory of scenarios gives a theoretical basis for understanding and resolving all these problems.
0.3. Outline of study
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