Retranslating the Bible and the Qur’an

Significant contribution to the retranslation studies of religious texts.

Despite the lively scholarly discourse on retranslation and its manifest value for uncovering dynamics of cultural change, interpretation, and reception, the retranslation of religious texts has received only fragmented attention in recent years. By spanning both historical and current aspects, and by treating the Bible and the Qur’an together, this book breaks new ground and paves the way for future research on the myriad discursive and religious aspects of retranslation.

This carefully curated collection of articles compellingly argues that the retranslation of canonical religious texts is a multi-faceted phenomenon. With cases ranging in time from the early Reformation to the present, and traversing linguistic contexts from Russia to Sweden, Slovenia to Saudi Arabia, the essays capture diverse dimensions of retranslation work. The collection demonstrates that retranslations of such texts manifest in different forms, depending on the religious, political and societal circumstances, the targeted audiences, and the status of existing translations. Their reception too may vary greatly, depending on those same circumstances. Authored by specialists in the different fields of retranslation of the Bible and the Qur’an, each contribution illustrates this complexity and offers a fresh perspective and insight that help lay the groundwork for future research in this area of study.

"Retranslating the Bible and the Qur’an" was written by Naima Afif, Helge Daniëls, Sameh Hanna, Yazid Haroun, Rim Hassen, Hilla Karas, Elvira Kulieva, Christian Moe, Johanna Pink, Richard Pleijel, Sohaib Saeed, Alexey B. Somov, Andy Warren-Rothlin and Marija Zlatnar Moe.

"Retranslating the Bible and the Qur’an" was edited by Pieter Boulogne, Marijke H. de Lang and Joseph Verheyden.

Pieter Boulogne holds a PhD in Slavonic Studies from KU Leuven and is Assistant Professor of Russian Studies and Translation Studies at KU Leuven. He is a former director and current board member of the Centre for Translation Studies (CETRA) at KU Leuven.

Marijke H. de Lang holds a PhD in Theology from Leiden University. She works as a translation consultant on projects of the United Bible Societies and is executive editor of the journal 'The Bible Translator'.

Joseph Verheyden is Professor Emeritus of New Testament Studies at KU Leuven, director of the Leuven Centre for the Study of the Gospels (LCSG), the Louvain Centre for Eastern and Oriental Christianity (LOCEOC), Polemikos – The Centre for Religious Polemics, and a former member of the steering committee of CETRA.

Yes, "Retranslating the Bible and the Qur’an" is part of the "Translation, Interpreting and Mediation" series.

Translation, Interpreting and Mediation

Mission statement

Championing a broad and transversal approach to the study of translational phenomena, Translation, Interpreting and Mediation (TIME)  is a book series for monographs and edited volumes that explore translation as a pervasive social practice connecting spaces and collectivities through complex forms of resemiotization and mediation. The series transcends traditional notions of translation as the decoding and recoding of semantic invariants and embraces an expansive understanding of translational agency. It aims to provide a venue for theoretical and methodological innovations at the disciplinary frontiers where translation is pervasive and essential but seldom fully understood or acknowledged. The series welcomes different perspectives on translation, interpreting and mediation, interfacing with a variety of areas of study, including sociology, literature, linguistics, cognition, politics, law, history, communication, multimodality, ecology, technology, cultural production and digital humanities (among others). The series draws inspiration from the collective expertise of CETRA (Centre for Translation Studies), its institutional home at KU Leuven.

All volumes in the series are double peer reviewed.

For questions, please contact the series editors.

Series editors

Jack McMartin (KU Leuven)
Sara Ramos Pinto (University of Leeds)

Editorial board

Núria Codina Solà (KU Leuven)
Lieven D’hulst (KU Leuven)
Peter J. Freeth (London Metropolitan University)
Deborah Giustini (Hamad Bin Khalifa University)
Gabriel González Núñez (University of Texas Rio Grande Valley)
Bei Hu (National University of Singapore)
Akiko Sakamoto (Kansai University)

Advisory board

Brian Baer (Kent State University)
Pieter Boulogne (KU Leuven)
Lynne Bowker (University of Laval)
Elke Brems (KU Leuven)
Leo Tak-hung Chan (Lingnan University, Hong Kong)
Antoon Cox (KU Leuven)
Michael Cronin (Trinity College Dublin)
Dilek Dizdar (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz)
Yves Gambier (University of Turku)
Maud Gonne (University of Liège)
Arnt Lykke Jakobsen (Copenhagen Business School)
Haidee Kotze (Utrecht University)
Kaisa Koskinen (Tampere University)
Kobus Marais (University of the Free State)
Reine Meylaerts (KU Leuven)
Joss Moorkens (Dublin City University)
Jemina Napier (Heriot-Watt University)
Franz Pöchhacker (University of Vienna)
Hanna Risku (University of Vienna)
Diana Roig Sanz (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya)
Heidi Salaets (KU Leuven)
Christina Schäffner (Aston University)
Luc van Doorslaer (University of Tartu / KU Leuven)

Yes, "Retranslating the Bible and the Qur’an" is published Open Access. It is available under a BY-NC-ND license.

Contributors
Note on transliteration

Introduction
Pieter Boulogne, Marijke H. de Lang and Joseph Verheyden

Part 1 Historical approaches to retranslating the Bible

Revision and retranslation in the Early Reformation
Marijke H. de Lang

The authority of the old for producing the new: the thorny path towards a new authoritative Russian Bible translation
Alexey B. Somov

Retranslation and negotiating authority in Bible translation: a sociological perspective of the Protestant Arabic translation of the Bible (1865)
Sameh Hanna

Part 2 Historical approaches to retranslating the Qur’an

The hybridity of a Hebrew retranslation of the Qur’an from Dutch by a Jewish convert
Naima Afif

In the Shadow of Orientalism: Tracing the Legacy of Ignatiĭ Krachkovskiĭ in Russian Salafi Qur’an Translations
Elvira Kulieva

Traversing and transcending the empire on which the sun never sets: the colonial and postcolonial afterlives of Muhammad Ali’s Qur’an translation
Johanna Pink

Part 3 Current debates about retranslating the Bible

Printed Modern Hebrew Bibles for the Jewish Publics: Shades of Translation
Hilla Karas

Between expectations and effect: public reactions to a retranslation of the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9–13) in Swedish
Richard Pleijel

Retranslation of the Bible in Muslim idiom
Andy Warren-Rothlin

Part 4 Current debates about retranslating the Qur’an

Retranslations of the Qur’an by women: motives, strategies and distinctive features
Rim Hassen

The Untranslated Qur’an: Retelling the Surah of Joseph
Sohaib Saeed

Retranslating the Qur’an in Saudi Arabia
Yazid Haroun

Negotiating a Slovene Qur’an: Retranslating for a dual readership
Marija Zlatnar Moe and Christian Moe

Allah’s and Muhammad’s co-author: Kader Abdolah and his ‘novelizing’ translation of the Qur’an
Helge Daniels