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Article published In: Target
Vol. 6:1 (1994) ► pp.15–41

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Did Adapa Indeed Lose His Chance for Eternal Life?

A Rationale for Translating Ancient Texts into a Modern Language

 | Tel Aviv University
Published online: 1 January 1994
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https://doi.org/10.1075/target.6.1.03izr
Abstract
This paper takes as a model for discussing the issue of translating ancient texts into a modern language and for a modern western society an ancient Mesopotamian myth written in the Semitic Akkadian language. Aiming for an oral production for a Hebrew-speaking audience in contemporary Israel, the translator has tackled problems of transmission in both poetics and language. The genre and linguistic gaps have been bridged by the existent proximity of the two cultures in poetic meter. Both the theoretical approach and some practical problems and solutions are discussed.
Résumé
Un ancien mythe mésopotamien écrit en akkadien, langue sémitique, sert d'objet à une discussion sur la traduction de textes anciens en une langue moderne et pour une société occidentale moderne. En concevant une version orale pour des auditeurs d'expression hebraïque en l'Israel d'aujourd'hui, lë traducteur a rencontré sur les plans poétique et langagier des problèmes de transfert, que la proximité des deux cultures quant au mètre poétique a permis de résoudre. La démarche theorique ainsi que des questions et solutions pratiques font l'objet d'une discussion.
Article outline
  • 1.How Did Adapa Lose Eternal Life
  • 2.Translating the Adapa Myth: Some Preliminaries
  • 3.The Target Culture: A Genre Gap
  • 4.The Target Culture: A Linguistic Gap
  • 5.The Poetical Bridge: Hebrew and Akkadian Meter
  • 6.Some Practical Problems and Solutions
    • 6.1.Textual Coherence
    • 6.2.Antiquity and Modernity
    • 6.3.The Lexicon, Phraseology and Idiomatics
    • 6.4.Phonology and Phonetics
    • 6.5.Morphology and TMA
    • 6.6.Word Order
    • 6.7.Prosody, Poetic Devices
    • 6.8.An Exemplified Conspectus
  • 7.Can the Lost Life of Adapa be Recovered?
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • References
References (23)
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