Saturday, May 17, 2008

taking Epistemological Shift: Multiplex Translation


I realize most folk don't get jazzed about a book titled:
"Missiological Implications of Epistemological Shifts"..

But the title alone, let alone the author alone (Paul Hiebert ) would sell me;
as others are drawn in to their own pornography ("Centerfolds in Big Green Theology Books").
even the words "semiotics" make me lust..uh, long to read more.

Honestly, like any other (hu)man, I am vulnerable to "God, beach and breasts,"...
but
at least I'm not into the Aphrodite centerfold in Sports Illustrated!

Anyway...
Hiebert basically contends for an epistemology of critical realism.

But in his discussion of translation, which I dovetail with Eugene Peterson's amazing dual definitions of translation ("Messianic Betrayal, ") I like this:


Multiplex Translation: "a global perspective requires a new theory of translation...During the colonial era, Bible translation was formal. It was assumed that if one translated the forms, the meanings would follow..but people reinterpret what they hear in terms of their cultures and worldviews.... This lead to dynamic translations that sought to preseve meaning by changing forms. Carried too far, they reduced meanings to subjective perceptions.. The solution offered by a triadic view of signs is a multiplex translation in which we seek to pre-serve both meanings and forms.. Moderns semiotics has also made us aware of the importance of rituals as nondiscursive enactments that speak of realities that cannot be reduced to mere words.. (p. 111, Paul Hiebert, "Missiological Implications of Epistemological Shifts")


Time to shift:



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Hey, thanks for engaging the conversation!