Abstract
The Christian theological text, whether written or oral is a derivative of a sacred text called The Bible, thus, making the theological text a second order text. This makes it possible for the Christian theological text to adopt first of all, the semiotic forms of The Bible: signs, symbols, vestments and colours as well as those of the modern church. Semiotic translation which implies a decoding of signs and symbols, interprets textual signs and symbols in a source text (ST) to the target audience (TA). Hence, translation is an interpretative activity. The translation of Christian theological semiotics could be done in-text, in footnotes or in notes and references as a form of elucidation to the target audience. Theology is a discipline and as such, most of its signs and symbols are technical. To deal with its semiotics is part of the deverbalisation process which its translator must engage in, in order to understand the source text (ST) and to reverbalise the same. The paper aims at furnishing Christian theological translators with the meanings of selected Christian theological signs and symbols. This is a plunge into the dynamic equivalence of the signs and symbols, since formal equivalence, calque and loaning do not deliver the relevant comprehension needed by the translator for adequate reverbalisation of the source text. The paper highlights the importance of semiotic research in the translation of Christian theological texts.
Highlights
1 Christian theological texts of various forms, especially, those that talk about public worship, contain symbolic objects, elements and vestments
The translator makes the act of translating a word for word activity, rather than a process which begins by deverbalising the source text (ST), in order to arrive at adequate understanding of it, progresses to re-expressing what he, the translator, understands
By meaning effect in this context, we mean the content of a translated Christian theological text that contains the “priestly stole”, that can make its reader, coming into a mainline church service setting, to know that the service is a sacramental service of baptism, Eucharist or even a wedding ceremony, because the priest is wearing a stole or to know that the priest wearing the preaching scarf amidst those wearing stoles, is the preacher in the service
Summary
It would be right to say that bible commentaries, Bible dictionaries, Christian literatures, The Book of Common Prayer, hymn books, sermons, Episcopal letters read on Youth Sundays, Mothering Sundays and all texts whether oral or written, which are analysis, interpretations, evaluations, even summaries of Scripture as in creedal theology, are theological texts This makes the theological text a second order text. The multidisciplinary nature of theological texts poses problem for the theological translator because he must have to do supplementary readings in order to understand terms, ideas, concepts and doctrines in disciplines involved in his corpus This will lead him into the search for adequate meaning –equivalents in the target language.
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