In her review of Translation, Resistance, Activism, a collection of essays on “resistant translation” edited by Maria Tymoczko, the reviewer highlights the chapter on Bible translation (emphasis mine):
Antonia Carcelen-Estrada in ‘Covert and overt ideologies in the translation of the Bible into Huao Terero’ (65–86) relates how the Bible came to be translated into Huao Terero, the language of the indigenous people of the Ecuadorian Amazon, called the Huaorani. Two threads run through this essay: one is the history of how the Huaorani came to be subjugated and exploited by outsiders, an endeavor led by missionaries set on translating the Bible into Huao Terero and converting the people to Christianity, and the other is the nature of the Bible translation that was carried out. The resistance in translation in this context has to do with how the Huaorani have managed to resist outsiders and their ways and beliefs, including Christianity, while seeming to comply.
This is an important perspective for Bible translators to consider, especially given the role positive “Stories of Impact” play in the “marketing” of Bible translation organizations like Wycliffe. However, the positive impact of Bible translation is not without its academic advocates, most notably Yale Divinity School’s Lamin Sanneh. He concludes in his article “Christian Missions and the Western Guilt Complex”
that Christian missions are better seen as a translation movement, with consequences for vernacular revitalization, religious change and social transformation than as a vehicle for Western cultural domination. Such an assurance should help alleviate some of the Western guilt complex about missions.
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