Preserving Contextualized Examples from Cultural Compromise
The process of translating and editing ancient Christian texts, such as the homilies of John Chrysostom, often involves decisions about how to present the material to a contemporary audience while preserving its original meaning and context [1]. Editors and translators frequently aim to make the language more accessible, replacing archaic or obsolete words with more modern idioms [1]. This effort to improve readability can, however, introduce challenges regarding the fidelity to the original author's thought and expression [2].
For instance, in preparing an American edition of Chrysostom's Homilies on Acts and Romans, editors sought to refine an earlier Oxford edition by making changes and corrections, including the addition of critical and explanatory notes [1]. While the translation largely remained consistent, minor adjustments were made to phraseology to clarify the sense for modern readers [1]. This approach highlights a tension between making ancient texts "run smoothly to the ear" and accurately reflecting the original author's likely intent and style [2].
Critics of such editorial practices sometimes point out that attempts to smooth out the text can lead to dilution or interpolation of the original material [2]. There is a risk that editors might prioritize sound over sense, potentially introducing content borrowed from other sources or adding their own interpretations that may not align with the original author's thinking [2]. The goal of such editions is often to adapt references and content for the target audience, sometimes necessitating the omission of portions deemed to have less contemporary value [3]. This ongoing process of adaptation and interpretation underscores the complexities inherent in transmitting historical religious texts across different cultural and linguistic contexts [1, 2, 3].
Sources
- CCEL/NPNF (Eastern Orthodox) “John Chrysostom, Homilies on Acts & Romans: iii Preface to the American Edition. ———————————— In the preparation of this volume of Chrysostom’s Homilies on Acts and Romans, the effort has been to improve the Oxford edition by some changes and corrections, and by the addition of critical and explanatory notes. The translation remains substantially unchanged. Frequent minor changes have, however, been made in phraseology, where it has seemed to me that the sense could thereby be made plainer. Archaic and obsolescent words or expressions have often been replaced by more idiomatic modern language.”
- CCEL/NPNF (Eastern Orthodox) “John Chrysostom, Homilies on Acts & Romans: oftener still amplifies, or rather dilutes: and interpolates matter which sometimes is demonstrably borrowed with little disguise from the Catena (see p. 113, note 1; 279, note 3; 280, note 2); or which, when it is his own, is little worth. In short, he has thought more of sound than of sense, and if he could make a passage run smoothly to the ear, has given himself little concern whether St. Chrysostom was likely to have so thought, or so expressed himself. The notes appended to our Translation will abundantly substantiate this censure. To have note”
- CCEL/NPNF (Eastern Orthodox) “John Chrysostom, Homilies on Acts & Romans: the references have been, so far as possible, adapted to the American edition. It is obvious, however, that this adaptation could not be perfectly made because but few of the volumes of the American edition of the Homilies had appeared when this volume was prepared for the press. References to English editions of works not yet accessible in an American edition were, of necessity, left unchanged. Some small-portions of the work of the English editors which seemed to have no present value iv have been omitted. It is not improbable that still other omis”