Personhood and the translation of sacred texts by women: Theology, culture, cooperation
Résumé
Many individuals and communities come into contact with holy texts through translation. But who translates, for whom, for what purpose, and how? The sensitive nature of the task, its implications as well as its sheer magnitude do not need highlighting: the venture to translate such writings is not one a translator undertakes lightly. In this paper, I conceptualise translation as a means to generate religious knowledge and discuss the role women translators can play in the common effort. While I recognise that fewer women than men have been involved up to now in the transmission, in and through translation, of holy texts from the various existing religions, I steer clear of reducing the debate concerning women’s participation to aspects of power. After all, a large majority of men have not translated sacred scriptures either, and have not held positions of authority in the hierarchical structures of institutionalised religions. Placing the question of translations by women within a theological and cultural context, I examine contemporary issues concerning the conceptualisation of the divine within Judaism and Christianity, two of the three Abrahamic religions. Drawing on Hassen and Şerban (2021) and on Hassen and Şerban (forthcoming), I focus the discussion around the theme of personhood. As Naudé (2020) pointed out, the future of religions as living traditions depends on the translation of their holy texts for new contexts; perhaps the time is ripe for joint effort in which every competence is used.
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