The Church and Cultures – Working with Texts WT-SST-KKP

The course is active in nature and requires students to systematically prepare to work with the assigned source material, which is based primarily on Church documents and texts by African theologians and philosophers (texts in the fields of Church history, systematic theology, pastoral theology, missiology, and other theological disciplines). The basis for work during the course is the text in its original language. Existing translations may be used as comparative and supplementary material.
The aim of the course is to develop students’ ability to independently translate specialized texts; to develop competence in the use of academic terminology; to cultivate the ability to recognize the historical, cultural, philosophical, and theological context of a text; to develop the ability to critically evaluate existing translations; to cultivate the ability to justify chosen translation solutions; and to prepare students to independently use scholarly literature in foreign languages.
The fundamental principle of translation is fidelity to the source text, understood as preserving its meaning, structure of argumentation, and appropriate terminology, while respecting the rules of correct Polish. When several possible translation variants exist, the student should: present possible solutions; indicate the preferred solution; and justify the choice made. Particular attention should be paid to: specialized terms; ambiguous terms; concepts characteristic of a given author; idioms and metaphors; constructions characteristic of the source language; concepts of historical or cultural significance.
When preparing a translation, students may use dictionaries, lexicons, concordances, language corpora, scholarly commentaries, and other reliable sources. If existing translations are used, students should cite their sources. The use of machine translation tools or generative artificial intelligence may be permitted by the instructor solely as an auxiliary tool, provided that the results obtained are critically verified. The ultimate responsibility for the substantive, terminological, and linguistic accuracy of the submitted translation rests with the student.
I. Theoretical Classes:
1. Academic Translation – Methodology for Working with Theological Texts
Scope: The specifics of academic and theological translation; fidelity to the source text; the relationship between translation, interpretation, and commentary; basic principles of translation criticism.
2. Analysis of the source text—historical, cultural, and theological context
Scope: The importance of context for a proper understanding of the text; author, audience, era, literary genre, historical situation, and theological context.
3. Theological Terminology as a Translation Challenge
Scope: The significance of theological terms; ambiguous terms; dogmatic, biblical, philosophical, and ecclesiological terminology; the principle of terminological consistency.
II. Independent translation of a theological text and preparation of a translator’s commentary
A final exercise integrating the skills acquired throughout the course.
The student prepares:
1. the source text;
2. an independent translation;
3. a list of key terms;
4. justification for the most important translation decisions;
5. a comparison with an existing translation—if one exists;
6. a commentary on the most important linguistic and theological issues.