Translating the Bible into English

Michaud, M. (2020) Translating the Bible into English. In: von Flotow, L. and Kamal, H. (eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Translation, Feminism and Gender. Routledge: London, pp. 471-480. ISBN 9781315158938 (doi: 10.4324/9781315158938-41)

Abstract

In this chapter, I investigate the ways in which patriarchal biases have been consolidated if not fully introduced by translators throughout the history of the Bible’s transmission. Using examples from the Book of Genesis as well as a collection of studies by feminist biblical scholars, this chapter aims to situate the translations that had wide and long felt repercussions over interpretation of discourse of sexuality and map out their impact on the diffusion of Christian gender ideology. What role did translators play in transforming or reinforcing gendered meanings and relations in the Bible? What impacts did they have on wider cultural constructs regarding femininity and masculinity? Why were such translations undertaken and for whom? This chapter, thus, presents methods suggested by historians and biblical scholars to analyze and understand the variations of meanings in translations, to then identify their implications for gender scripts. To do so, it draws on short portions of analysis made by various Bible scholars. Indeed, research on the gendered impact of translations upon the creation of identities, especially with regard to biblical texts, is still extremely fragmented. This chapter thus attempts to string together the pieces of this complex puzzle we have recently started to uncover.

• Item Type: Book Sections
• Status: Published
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Michaud, Mx Mathilde
• Authors: Michaud, M.
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > History
• Publisher: Routledge
• ISBN: 9781315158938
• Published Online: 13 July 2020