The Terms of the Debate: Translating the Bible in Nineteenth-century India

Abstract

The Bible was among a range of texts that was translated for the very first time either into or out of Indian languages. As one among a large “field,” so to speak, of different types of translated texts—legal, literary, or sacred—the Bible’s translation history in Indian languages was shaped by wider translation practices and resultant changes in the modes of knowledge production and consumption. Although the nature and function of these other translation endeavors may have differed in each case, they influenced the ways in which Protestant missionaries conceived Bible translation and presented it in the Indian context. I believe that this broadening of the focus to situate the translated Bible in a comparative framework that comprises translated texts from various domains is essential in order not to limit the analyses of Bible translation in India to an examination of sacred terms or as an example of “dialogue” between religions as it has often been done in the past.1KeywordsNineteenth CenturyIndian LanguageTranslation ProjectSanskrit WordDravidian LanguageThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.