Abstract
Translation as a form of music localization does not only occur in diverse cultural or lingual contexts, it also occurs within an ostensibly homogenous culture and language. The global genre of contemporary congregational songs (CCS) is written and performed through a variety of theological lenses. Sometimes a theological position conveyed in, or ascribed to, CCS can be problematic for certain local expressions of the Christian faith to replicate without needing to alter lyrics, and/or musical content, or at least reinterpret those lyrics in a way which aligns with their theological understanding. This article explores popular CCS, as measured by Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI) which have been either accepted, rejected, reinterpreted, or otherwise altered in order to play their part in defining local (English-speaking) church worship and identity. Translation studies and music semiology are applied to selected CCS to demonstrate this nuanced interpretation of “translation” in the localizing of religious musical practice
Highlights
The theme of this special issue of Religions Journal is “Language Translation in Localizing Religious Musical Practice.” Translation proper is understood as requiring a change in language between the source text and the target text, which I expect the bulk of the articles contributing to this special issue will address
Translation studies and music semiology are applied to selected contemporary congregational songs (CCS) to demonstrate this nuanced interpretation of “translation” in the localizing of religious musical practice
Some English-language contemporary congregational songs have required either translation or reinterpretation in order to be meaningful and useful within the Englishspeaking context of a local Christian community’s worship. Such communities may engage in intralingual translation, more common is an internal process of what music semiology terms as ‘esthesic’ meaning-making
Summary
Some English-language contemporary congregational songs have required either translation or reinterpretation in order to be meaningful and useful within the Englishspeaking context of a local Christian community’s worship Such communities may engage in intralingual translation, more common is an internal process of what music semiology terms as ‘esthesic’ meaning-making. These processes of localization are noticeable in contemporary congregational songs (CCS) that contain controversial lyrics, or distinct musical stylings While this is the case for the examples analyzed in this paper, it should be noted that more broadly, translation of songs for worship has been driven by missional effectiveness and theological accuracy rather than controversial lyrics.
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