1989 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
JOINT TRANSLATION WORK OF THE NEW TESTAMENT AND D. C. GREENE
| Project/Area Number |
63510023
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Research Field |
Religious studies
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| Research Institution | BAIKA JUNIOR COLLEGE |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Project Period (FY) |
1988 – 1989
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| Keywords | BIBLE TRANSLATION / D. C. GREENE / AMERICAN BOARD / BIBLE SOCIETY / TAKAYOSHI MATSUYAMA / J. C. HEPBURN / DOSHISHA / NIHON KUMIAI KIRISUTO KYOUKAI |
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| Research Abstract |
The main works in this research project is (1) to read the ihicrofilmed letters of D. C. Greene to American Board, (2) to make them a text and (3) to translate them into Japanese. This research report contains complete Japanese translation of Greene's thirty-one letters from 1874 to 1880 based on the text and a brief survey on the Bible translation work he took part in.
(A) Concerning the progress and the principle of joint translation work of the New Testament into Japanese: manuscripts, which were first translated by a member of the joint Bible Translation Committee, should be revised by the Committee under their agreement and be published. "The Apostle to the Romans" (published in 1876) was taken this step. This type of publication needed much time and labor. The other type of publication, including the Gospels of Mark, Luke, and John, was the one that a sub-committee, consisting of Hepburn and Greene, revised the manuscripts which had already translated by J. C. Hepburn or S. R. Brown.
(B) Concerning the style of Japanese translation: one of the most noticeable contributions of Greene to the translation work was his strong convictions as to the theory of translation. He urged that translating style should not be written Chinese style language but be colloquial spoken language, that is, Japanese easy and intelligible to all classes. He also contributed to make great effort to avoid literary translation from original Greek manuscripts or Chinese manuscripts and to use Japanese idioms as much as possible.
Greene's letters show us a lot of new informations, including the establishment of Doshisha, Government attitude to education and political situation of Japan &c.
The publication of two books on "Bible translation work and D. C. Greene" an "The Letters of D. C. Greene" (Japanese translation) is planned within a couple of years.
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