John Canti – Tsadra Conferences

Translation Fidelity or Intervention—when should translators sanitize misogyny, explain it, reproduce it, or refuse to translate it?

Gwen Witt Dorring — Fri, 18 Nov 2022 09:10:02 +0000

Uncontrived Elegance in Tibetan Songs

Migmar Lama — Wed, 02 Jan 2019 08:17:08 +0000

John Canti (Padmakara, 84000) and Sarah Harding (Tsadra Foundation) explore “uncontrived elegance” in poetry and song in Tibetan literature. Compared to the purportedly spontaneous composition of the original, is a translation ever uncontrived? John draws on examples from Dudjom Lingpa and Shabkar to illustrate the possibilities of translation and the evocative dimensions that can be expressed based on the source literature. Sarah suggests that a smooth, readable translation, facilitating ease of comprehension, may be the best we can do. After a lively discussion, Sarah leads the group in translating a short line of text to illustrate their points.

Reflections on the Translation Process

Migmar Lama — Wed, 02 Jan 2019 08:09:37 +0000

Jules Levinson (Independent), John Canti (Padmakara, 84000), Dominique Townsend (Bard), Lama Jabb (Oxford), Sarah Harding (Tsadra Foundation), and Nancy Lin (84000) share their reflections about the process of oral and written translation from some of the first instances of Tibetan language being rendered into English in the United States through the first Lotsawa Translation Workshop in 2018. The discussion weaves through topics like facing the fear of “imposter syndrome” as part of the process of translation, the importance of “kindness to the reader”, and how translators relate to the concept of form. The speakers create a gentle, encouraging, and humorous tone, which appropriately reflects the mood of the entire first Lotsawa Translation Workshop on its final morning.

Large Scale Projects: Multi-Volume, Multi-Source Language, Collaborative Projects

Marcus Perman — Thu, 05 Apr 2018 12:51:13 +0000

Large scale projects come with their own special challenges and this session with Robert Thurman, Editor-in-Chief of several major translation projects, including the Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences series, and James Gentry (filling in for John Canti of the Padmakara Translation Group) of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha project, addresses issues that arise when working on multi-volume, multi-source language, and collaborative projects. Tom Yarnall, a key editor and lead collaborator on the Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences series, facilitates the discussion.

The Editorial Process Throughout Creation and Completion Stages

Marcus Perman — Sat, 31 Mar 2018 04:37:38 +0000

In this final session of the 2017 Translation & Transmission Conference, editors from different publishers and projects discuss a number of useful ideas and tools (such as the all important Chicago Manual of Style) that translators who wish to publish their work should know about and pay attention to. Key themes presented in this session are: 1) Types of editors and “editing”; 2) Process/timing of editing; 3) The view of the editor/publisher and the importance of communicating that view to the translator; 4) Translating, editing, and publishing; 5) Editing as integral to translation and transmission.

Translating Canonical Materials: Sutra

Marcus Perman — Mon, 19 Mar 2018 18:12:30 +0000

Leading members of the 84000 Project John Canti, Andreas Doctor, and Tom Tillemans speak about the scope of the project and issues that arise when translating canonical materials: multiple source texts, working from translations to make an English version, the difficulty of interpreting the intended literary style of the source materials, and the importance of the 84000 Project to the transmission of the dharma to the West.

Transmission: Authenticity and Transformation

Marcus Perman — Sat, 17 Mar 2018 03:09:13 +0000

As curators of context, translators create and manage the ongoing, multifaceted process of transmission through their work. Panelists explore this process from varied angles. Ringu Tulku articulates the view of transmission from the Tibetan tradition speaking about empowerment, transmission, and instruction while David Germano highlights the importance of the perpetual responsibility of translators when considering both temporal and atemporal spaces. Relationship and interconnection feature prominently in Anne Klein’s talk and John Canti focuses on the translator as the creator of context so that transmission is properly received.