In this season of lotsawa conferences (Light of Berotsana’s last September, Khyentse Foundation’s coming up in March), there is a lot of reflection and discussion about how lotsawas do their thing, all of it tying in quite neatly with the purpose of this site. In the spirit of this atmosphere of introspection, here is a set of guidelines laid out by the excellent Padmakara Translation Group here on their burgeoning new site:
- Starting by receiving transmission and explanation of the text from a qualified teacher
- Careful, painstaking translation of the meaning, with extensive research and study where necessary
- Submission of difficult points and doubts to competent teachers with a good knowledge of the text
- Double-checking of the draft translation by at least one other translator
- Careful editing and rewriting to produce a clear, readable style
- Final text proof-read and approved by a person who knows the subject and has a good command of the final language
This is clearly the methodology of a group of translators–and highlights the advantages of working together, as well as the central role of the teacher(s). What also comes through from reading these points is the group’s well-known emphasis on the importance of fluent, readable translations, requiring translators and editors alike to have, as they put it, “a good command of the final language.” This latter point is worth reiterating because there seems to be a common misconception these days that anyone is capable of becoming a translator, and that little or no literary training in the target language is required, as if everyone is somehow gifted with fluency in their native tongue and the automatic ability to produce lucid prose.
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