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Scholars have recently begun to document the many outstanding literary (artistic, structural, and rhetorical) properties of the biblical text, qualities contributing, to a significant dimension of "meaning" that few translations, past or present, attempt to reproduce even on a limited basis. Closely related to this is the correspondingly manifold communicative potential of different target languages all over the world, a rich inventory of resources that are only rarely exploited to the full in a translation. Accordingly, this book proposes the implementation of a literary functional-equivalence (LiFE) method of translation that seeks to represent or recreate in a given language the variety of expressive and affective dynamics - the great impact and appeal, including the beauty - of the diverse tests of Scripture. Many examples pertaining to the biblical language as well as several Bantu languages are included to illustrate this methodology and show how competent mother-tongue translators can be trained to apply it practically in their work. Dr. Wendland teaches at the Lutheran Bible Institute and Seminary in Lusaka, Zambia, and is a United Bible Societies Translation Consultant. He is the author of numerous studies on the Bantu languages of South Central Africa, biblical exegesis, and translation theory.
About the author
Ernst R. Wendland (Ph.D., African Languages and Literature, University of Wisconsin) is an instructor at Lusaka Lutheran Seminary and a dissertation examiner at the University of Zambia. A former United Bible Societies translation consultant, he now serves as Professor Extraordinary in the Centre for Bible Interpretation and Translation in Africa, Department of Ancient Studies, Stellenbosch University.
