Series: Lamin Sanneh Lecture

The Role of Local Communities in Determining Quality in Bible Translation 

Dr. Paul Kimbi - Wycliffe Global Alliance

Bible translation is understood as the series of activities that lead to the translation of Scriptures from the source language into a target language ostensibly for the transformation of individuals, communities and nations for whom it is done. The translated Scriptures are considered to be of high quality when they retain a high degree of accuracy to the original while staying natural and clear in the receptor language.  Quality in Bible translation has mainly been attributed to the work of a translation consultant and the translation team. But the qualities of a good translation make more sense only when we relate this to the users of the translation. Translation quality is thus assessed from the interaction between the text and its readers or users. The text is said to be good when the reader finds his or her expectations of relevance met. This relevance necessarily touches on clarity, accuracy and naturalness of the translated text amongst other expectations.  If we take clarity and naturalness for example as quality markers, this would be determined only in relation to the way the users or target community agrees with the degree of naturalness or clarity of the text. I argue therefore that the quality of the translated text is invariably connected to the expectations of relevance expressed in a translation brief by the key stakeholders and that the quality of the process has a direct implication on the quality of the product.  I adopt the view that forestalling quality in  translation is a collective responsibility and that the local community plays a key role in this. Translators together with the consultant consequently work to ensure that the expectations of relevance defined by the community and other stakeholders are met.