“Silence” in Translation

Anna Sui Hluan

Description

The role of women in the church has long been a contentious topic for Christians. In this groundbreaking study, Dr. Anna Sui Hluan critically examines the understanding of “silence” within the Myanmar context, specically as it impacts the church’s interpretation of 1 Corinthians 14:34–35. She oers a comparative study of the Judson Burmese Bible alongside versions of the Greek text, exploring the role of translation in reinforcing cultural assumptions and codifying the translator’s interpretive viewpoint. Analyzing the verses in question through the lens of three contemporary schools of interpretation – literal traditional, feminist, and egalitarian – she demonstrates the need for developing a satisfactory contextual hermeneutic for interpreting passages that concern women in Myanmar today.
This interdisciplinary study combines cultural and linguistic awareness, a critical analysis of hermeneutics, and a deep commitment to Scripture as the foundation for faith and life. Dr. Hluan oers the church a model of “believing criticism,” equipping believers to take responsibility for their own interpretations of Scripture and its application in their societies. This is a powerful resource for translators, scholars, church leaders, and all those seeking to faithfully apply the Bible in their contexts.

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Biblical Studies
• Philosophie et théologie
• Exegesis
• Hermeneutics

Informations

• Publié par: Langham Creative Projects
• Date de parution: 02 décembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781839738074
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

The impact on the protestant church in Myanmar of Adoniram Judson’s translation of the Bible into Burmese cannot be overstated. Judson availed himself of cutting edge continental and British biblical scholarship, as well as Burmese and Buddhist scholarship, to produce a sophisticated translation that enjoys a virtually canonical status for many Christian communities in modern-day Myanmar. Anna Hluan brings both Western critical scholarship and a native Myanmar perspective to the table in this nuanced and respectful critique of the Judson Bible. The focus of the study is on Judson’s translation of 1 Corinthians 14:34–35 and its reception history, but Hluan goes much further than that. In examining the multiple contexts of the Judson Bible – Myanmar and Western, historical and current, faith-community and academic – she provides a foundation for ongoing scholarship into this most significant of Myanmar Bible translations.
John de Jong, PhD
Lecturer, Biblical and Intercultural Studies,
Laidlaw College, New Zealand
Anna Hluan’s research stands at the nexus of translation studies, contextual theology, New Testament exegesis, and feminist studies. As such, it serves as a blueprint for similar studies in other cultural, religious, and linguistic contexts.
Hluan begins with Paul’s oft-quoted text requiring women to be silent in church (1 Cor 14:34–35), how it was translated by the missionary Adoniram Judson (1788–1850) into Burmese, and the deleterious effect this translation has had on women’s participation in church life in Myanmar. She broadens the picture carefully until it encompasses cultural assumptions of both missionaries and locals, in the past and now. One particularly important thread that Hluan brings into her discussion is the feminist perspective. Historically, women’s voices have been silenced using cultural, social, and religious sanctions, intentionally or not. She identifies some of those sanctions found within one particular culture whose most-read Bible was translated by someone from outside – someone whose own culture also silenced women. Does Paul too seek to silence women, or is the text nuanced and its seeming starkness caused by translator bias?
Throughout Hluan leads the reader to a deeper understanding of our need to challenge hermeneutical assumptions in a robust critical dialogue with the text and with interpreters ancient and modern. A veritable tour de force.
Margaret Eaton
Retired Theological Educator and Translation Consultant,
New Zealand
This study is a model of how to dig deep when cultures both affirm and question texts from the Bible whose application to Christian behaviour long seemed obvious. No interpretation escapes a cultural lens and a social setting, and “Silence” in Translation opens up how translators in every generation can see things differently.
Dr. Hluan shows an impressive respect for major representative views together with pastoral sensitivity. Her believing, industrious, thorough, courageous, and inspiring book displays a formidable command of languages, a respect for history and culture, a detailed knowledge of the challenges of biblical translation, and a courteous engagement with a diversity of perspectives.
This book is about more than addressing a particular problem; it is about how time, faith, and scholarship, are demanded when postcolonial churches take responsibility for their own identity, have the confidence to examine their own history, engage directly with a knowledge of biblical languages, and continue to interact with those in other political and social environments.
John Roxborogh, PhD
Honorary Fellow, Theology Programme,
University of Otago, New Zealand
In this pioneering and groundbreaking book, Dr. Hluan reconsiders the interpretation of Paul’s commands in 1 Corinthians 14:34–35. This work brings a whole range of areas into constructive dialogue: the social, political, and historical context of Myanmar; missionary history; issues in Bible translation; developments in hermeneutics; and a range of biblical scholarship represented by the work of Wayne Grudem, Elizabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, and Ben Witherington. As a result of this rich and engaging dialogue, Dr. Hluan develops a critical contextual hermeneutic that enables the church in Myanmar to engage with the biblical text in a new way. “Silence” in Translation is a wonderfully helpful book when it comes to reading 1 Corinthians today, but it is also a model for how to reread biblical texts with critical eyes in a whole range of contemporary contexts in our complex world.
Paul Trebilco, PhD
Professor of New Testament Studies,
University of Otago, New Zealand

“Silence” in Translation
1 Corinthians 14:34–35 in Myanmar and the Development of a Critical Contextual Hermeneutic
Anna Sui Hluan

© 2022 Anna Sui Hluan
Published 2022 by Langham Monographs
An imprint of Langham Publishing
Langham Partnership
PO Box 296, Carlisle, Cumbria CA3 9WZ, UK
www.langham.org
ISBNs:
978-1-83973-216-4 Print
978-1-83973-807-4 ePub
978-1-83973-808-1 Mobi
978-1-83973-809-8 PDF
Anna Sui Hluan has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the Author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher or the Copyright Licensing Agency.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-83973-216-4
Cover & Book Design: projectluz.com
Langham Partnership actively supports theological dialogue and an author’s right to publish but does not necessarily endorse the views and opinions set forth here or in works referenced within this publication, nor can we guarantee technical and grammatical correctness. Langham Partnership does not accept any responsibility or liability to persons or property as a consequence of the reading, use or interpretation of its published content.

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Contents

Cover


Preface


Acknowledgments


Abbreviations


Chapter 1 Introduct ion


1.1 Statement of the Problem


1.2 Research Methodology


1.3 Limitations of the Study


1.4 Significance of the Study


1.5 Literature Review


Part One The Myanmar Context


Chapter 2 Silence in Myanmar


2.1 The Historical Background of Silence in Myanmar


2.2 The Impact of Missionaries on Myanmar Interpreters and Their Understanding of Silence


2.3 Conclusion


Chapter 3 A Textual Analysis of 1 Corinthians 14:34–35 in Myanmar Bibles


3.1 The Judson Burmese Bible and the Myanmar Common Language Bible


3.2 Textual Analysis of 1 Corinthians 14:34–35


3.3 Historical Influences Affecting Judson’s Translation


3.4 Conclusion


Part Two Hermeneutics and Context


Chapter 4 Si lence in Contemporary Scholarship


4.1 Th e Hermeneutics of Contemporary Scholarship


4.2 Points of Comparison


4.3 Hermeneutical Keys of Contemporary Interpreters


4.4 Conclusion


Chapter 5 A Critical Contextual Hermeneutic for Myanmar


5.1 Hermeneutical Schools


5.2 Toward a Satisfactory Contextual Hermeneutic


5.3 Conclusion


Part Three Revisiting the Context and the Text


Chapter 6 Revisiting the Context


6.1 An Interplay of Contexts


6.2 Cultural Obstacles to Developing a Myanmar Contextual Hermeneutic


6.3 Rethinking Our Approaches to Interpretation


6.4 Obstacles to a Critical Contextual Myanmar Hermeneutic


6.5 Conclusion


Chapter 7 Revisiting the Text through Critical Contextual Hermeneutics


7.1 Interpretive Keys in Revisiting the Text


7.2 Revisiting 1 Corinthians 14:34–35


7.3 Contextual Application of the Text


7.4 Conclusion


Chapter 8 Summary and Conclusion


8.1 Culture and Hermeneutics


8.2 Hermeneutics and Translation


8.3 Schools of Interpretation


8.4 Critical Tools for a Contextual Hermeneutic


8.5 The Example of Katharine Bushnell


Bibliography


Bible Versions and Translations


References Cited


About Langham Partnership

Endnotes
Preface
The social significance of silence used as a sign of submission to the powerful, or to anyone in a position of authority, gained importance in Myanmar over a prolonged history of imperial, colonial, and postcolonial authoritarian rule. The culture of silence in the face of power reinforced the position of the powerful in their control of the people and impacted not only the political sphere between the rulers and the ruled, but also relationships between men and women, parents and children, and religious leaders and followers. For Christians, silence as a sign of women’s submission to authority gained importance through the teachings of nineteenth-century missionaries, of whom Adoniram Judson was the most important, particularly through the terms used in his translation of the Burmese Bible. Myanmar Christians read its references to silence and the role of women through the lens of their own experience of the cultural and social significance of silence and submission and tended to uncritically accept the expectation of silence for women in the church as well as in society.
Taking interpretations of the text of 1 Corinthians 14:34–35 and adjacent verses as an example of the hermeneutical issues raised by the interaction between translation and social context and the issue of silence, the first question this work seeks to address is, “What is the impact of these verses on Myanmar Christians’ views of the role of women in the church?” It examines how this text and its statements about women and silence have been translated, particularly in Judson’s Burmese Bible, and also in Greek version