Balancing Form and Content

Migmar Lama — Wed, 02 Jan 2019 08:08:43 +0000

Jann Ronis (Buddhist Digital Resource Center) begins this session with a brief tour of evocative definitions of literature, form, and content from a variety of perspectives and muses that form is not the external shape, but the energy behind the making of a poem. And if this is so, can we also think of the form of a translation in the same way? He takes us one step further to consider the importance of intertextuality–when we approach translation by way of understanding the work as it was meant by the author, we can be supported by our own extensive contextual knowledge of the classics.

Then, Stephen Gethin (Padmakara, Tsadra Foundation) presents practical examples of attention to sophisticated intertextuality in his own work on the sixteenth volume of Jamgon Kongtrul’s Treasury of Precious Instructions. He speaks in detail about the choices affecting form and content while producing a translation of a poetic work. He describes how rhythm and resonance might inspire and the intricacy of choosing a form–one with which we feel comfortable–supports this process. Stephen expertly illustrates how content is then massaged to fit the chosen form. Participants contribute their own experience and expertise to the discussion as further examples of the art of balancing form and content in translation.

Jann Ronis – Tsadra Conferences

Balancing Form and Content