Translating Buddhism

Description

Although many Buddhist studies scholars spend a great deal of their time involved in acts of translation, to date not much has been published that examines the key questions, problems, and difficulties faced by translators of South Asian Buddhist texts and epigraphs. Translating Buddhism seeks to address this omission. The essays collected here represent a burgeoning attempt to begin to shape the subfield of translation studies within Buddhist studies, whereby scholars actively challenge primary routine decisions and basic assumptions. Exploring questions including how interpretive translators can be and how cultural and social norms affect translations, the book draws on the broad experiences of its contributors—all of whom are translators themselves—who bring different themes to the table. Each chapter can be used either independently or as part of the whole to engender reflections on the process of translation.
Abbreviations

Introduction

Part I: Texts

1. Translation in Search of a Text: The Craving for Stability
Collett Cox

2. Translating the Buddha's Body
Natalie Gummer

3. On Reading Vinaya: Feminist History, Hermeneutics, and Translating the Female Body
Amy Paris Langenberg

Part II: Translators

4. Translating the Theravāda Commentaries: Why, How, for Whom?
Oskar von Hinüber

5. The Impact of Nineteenth-Century Missionary Translations of Theravada Buddhist Texts
Elizabeth Harris

6. Words or Terms? Models of Terminology and the Translation of Buddhist Sanskrit Vocabulary
Ligeia Lugli

Part III: Words

7. Translation and Historical Context: Interpretations of Antevāsinī
Alice Collett

8. Translating the Tīrthika: Enduring "Heresy" in Buddhist Studies
C. V. Jones

9. Translating Paṭicca-samuppāda in Early Buddhism
Dhivan Thomas Jones

10. Why Is Literal Meaning Insufficient? A Study of Desanāsīsa Explanations in the Pāli Commentaries
Aruna Gamage

Contributors
Index

Sujets

• History of religions
• Sociolinguistics
• Buddhism

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 avril 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781438482958
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 8 Mo

Extrait

Translating Buddhism
Translating Buddhism
HISTORICAL AND CONTEXTUAL PERSPECTIVES
Edited by
ALICE COLLETT
Cover: Palm-leaf manuscripts, Sarasvati Mahal Library, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India.
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2021 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Name: Collett, Alice, editor.
Title: Translating Buddhism : historical and contextual perspectives / Alice Collett.
Description: Albany : State University of New York, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020048633 (print) | LCCN 2020048634 (ebook) | ISBN 9781438482934 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781438482958 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Buddhist Literature—South Asia—History and criticism. | Buddhist Literature—South Asia—Translations into English. | Translators. | Translating and interpreting—Religious aspects—Buddhism.
Classification: LCC BQ1029.S64 T73 2021 (print) | LCC BQ1029.S64 (ebook) | DDC 418/.03294382—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020048633
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020048634
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Abbreviations
Introduction
PART I. TEXTS
Chapter 1 Translation in Search of a Text: The Craving for Stability
Collett Cox
Chapter 2 Translating the Buddha’s Body
Natalie Gummer
Chapter 3 On Reading Vinaya : Feminist History, Hermeneutics, and Translating the Female Body
Amy Paris Langenberg
PART II. TRANSLATORS
Chapter 4 Translating the Theravāda Commentaries: Why, How, for Whom?
Oskar von Hinüber
Chapter 5 The Impact of Nineteenth-Century Missionary Translations of Theravada Buddhist Texts
Elizabeth Harris
Chapter 6 Words or Terms? Models of Terminology and the Translation of Buddhist Sanskrit Vocabulary
Ligeia Lugli
PART III. WORDS
Chapter 7 Translation and Historical Context: Interpretations of Antevāsinī
Alice Collett
Chapter 8 Translating the Tīrthika : Enduring “Heresy” in Buddhist Studies
C. V. Jones
Chapter 9 Translating Pa ṭ icca-samuppāda in Early Buddhism
Dhivan Thomas Jones
Chapter 10 Why Is Literal Meaning Insufficient? A Study of Desanāsīsa Explanations in the Pāli Commentaries
Aruna Gamage
Contributors
Index
Abbreviations
AKB Abhidharmakośabhā ṣ yam
AN A ṅ guttaranikāya
AN-a. A ṅ guttaranikāya-a ṭṭ hakathā ( Manorathapūra ṇ ī )
BGVNS Bodhisattvagocaropāyavi ṣ ayavikurvā ṇ anirdeśasūtra
BL British Library Collection, Early Buddhist Gāndhārī Manuscripts
DN Dīghanikāya
DN-a. Dīghanikāya-a ṭṭ hakathā ( Suma ṅ galavilāsinī )
DN-a ṭ . Dīghanikāya-a ṭṭ hakathā- ṭ īkā ( Līnatthava ṇṇ anā )
Dhp. Dhammapada
Dhp-a. Dhammapada-a ṭṭ hakathā
Dhs. Dhammasa ṅ ga ṇ ī
Dhs-a. Dhammasa ṅ ga ṇ ī-a ṭṭ hakathā ( Atthasālinī )
Dhs-an ṭ . Dhammasa ṅ ga ṇ ī-anu- ṭ īkā
Dhs-m ṭ . Dhammasa ṅ ga ṇ ī-mūla- ṭ īkā
Dīp. Dīpava ṃ sa
G. Gāndhārī
HPL Handbook of Pāli Literature
Itv. Itivuttaka
Itv-a. Itivuttaka-a ṭṭ hakathā ( Paramatthadīpanī )
J. Jātaka
J-a. Jātaka-a ṭṭ hakathā
Kv. Kathāvatthu
Kv-a. Kathāvatthu-a ṭṭ hakathā ( Paramatthadīpanī )
MĀ Madhyama-āgama
Mhv. Mahāva ṃ sa
MN Majjhimanikāya
MN-a. Majjhimanikāya-a ṭṭ hakathā ( Papañcasūdanī )
MN-a ṭ . Majjhimanikāya-a ṭṭ hakathā- ṭ īkā ( Līnatthava ṇṇ anā )
Mil. Milindapañha
Nett. Nettippakara ṇ a
Nett- ṭ . Nettippakara ṇ a- ṭ īkā
Nidd. I Mahāniddesa
Nidd. II Cullaniddesa
P. Pāli
Ppk-an ṭ . Pañcappakara ṇ a-anu- ṭ īkā
Ps. Papañcasūdanī
PTS Pali Text Society
P ṭ sm. Pa ṭ isambhidāmagga
P ṭ sm-a. Pa ṭ isambhidāmagga-a ṭṭ hakathā ( Saddhammappakāsinī )
RGVV Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā
Skt. Sanskrit
Sp. Samantapāsādikā
Sp- ṭ . Samantapāsādikā- ṭ ika
Spk Sāratthappakāsinī
SN Sa ṃ yuttanikāya
SN-a. Sa ṃ yuttanikāya-a ṭṭ hakathā ( Sāratthappakāsinī )
SN-a ṭ . Sa ṃ yuttanikāya-a ṭṭ hakathā- ṭ īkā ( Līnatthava ṇṇ anā )
Sd- ṭ . Sāratthadīpanī- ṭ īkā
Sv. Suma ṅ galavilāsinī
T. Taishō Shinshū Daizōkyō 大正新脩大藏經
Th. Theragāthā
Th-a. Theragāthā-a ṭṭ hakathā ( Paramatthadīpanī )
Tib. Tibetan
Thi. Therīgāthā
Ud. Udāna
Ud-a. Udāna-a ṭṭ hakathā ( Paramatthadīpanī )
V-a. Vinaya-a ṭṭ hakathā ( Samantapāsādikā )
Vibh. Vibha ṅ ga
Vin. Vinaya-pi ṭ aka
Vism. Visuddhimagga
Vism- ṭ . Visuddhimagga- ṭ īkā ( Paramatthamañjūsā )
Vjb. Vajirabuddhi- ṭ īkā
Ymk. Yamaka
All references to Pāli texts in this volume are to the Pali Text Society editions, unless otherwise stated.
Dictionaries
Apte Apte, Vaman Shivaram. 1890. The Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary . Poona: Shiralkar.
BHSD Edgerton, Franklin. 1953. Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary . 2 vols. New Haven: Yale University Press.
CPD Trenckner, V., et al. 1924–2011. A Critical Pāli Dictionary . Vol. 1, fasc.1-III, fasc. 8. Copenhagen: Royal Danish Academy of Science and Letters; Bristol: Pali Text Society.
DLP Crystal, David. 2008. A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics . Malden, MA: Blackwell.
DOP Cone, Margaret. 2001–2020. Dictionary of Pāli . 3 vols. Oxford: Pali Text Society.
MW Monier-Williams, Monier. 1899. A Sanskrit-English Dictionary . Oxford: Oxford University Press.
PED Rhys Davids, T. W., and William Stede. 1921–1925. Pāli-English Dictionary . London: Pali Text Society.
WCD Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary . 1963. Springfield, MA: G. C. Merriam Company.
Introduction
Although many Buddhologists spend a great deal of their time involved in acts of translation, there has not been, to date, much research published that explores the key questions, problems, and difficulties faced by translators of Buddhist texts and epigraphs on an (often) daily basis. This volume focuses on South Asian Buddhism, and on translations of Old and Middle Indo-Aryan languages into English. The essays in this volume, which all began as papers for the UK Translating Buddhism Conference, York St. John University, in the summer of 2016, address some of the many questions that can arise for anyone engaged in translation processes in relation to historical sources. In my Welcome Address at the conference, I cited a rare article by K. R. Norman, published in the 1980s, that tackles translation issues in Buddhist studies, particularly, in this case, of Pāli texts. Paraphrasing Norman, I listed a set of questions he formulated in his short article, questions that remain relevant today, and that formed both the backdrop for the conference and this volume: How important is historical context in helping us determine meaning? What aids are available to a translator? How does the translator give the translation meaning in a readable way? Can we understand words/passages from understanding their religious context? How important is a literal translation? How interpretive can we be? How do we find direct parallels between languages? Do commentaries and subcommentaries help or hinder? These and related questions are addressed by the essays presented here, as initial attempts to assess our translation practices.
Translation studies has been a subdiscipline in “Western” academia since the 1980s, but translation theory and practice itself is, to quote a biblical idiom, as old as the hills. Initially, translation studies, as it emerged as a discipline, was Eurocentric/Western in its purview, but by the beginning of the