Devotion to the Guru, Loyalty to the Nation

Migmar Lama2022-11-16T23:40:45-07:00

Riga Shakya, doctoral student in history at Columbia University, looks at the relationship between history and literature and the making of an inner Asian empire, specifically the early Qing expanses into the Tibetan plateau. By considering autobiographies, biographies, and key historical sources of this period, Riga explores the “language of loyalty” and the role of lay elites in articulation of the relationship between empire and subject populations. Holly Gayley (University of Colorado, Boulder) extrapolates on the theme of “language of loyalty”, drawing attention to pop music of the twenty and twenty-first centuries that illustrates embodied acts of devotion through the […]

Devotion to the Guru, Loyalty to the NationMigmar Lama2022-11-16T23:40:45-07:00

Ornamentation Shared by Poetry and Song

Migmar Lama2022-10-26T05:23:38-06:00

With humor and levity, longtime collaborators Nicole Willock (Old Dominion) and Gedun Rabsal (Indiana) present chapter three of Daṇḍin’s Mirror of Poetics (Kāvyādarśa) through the lens of twentieth century Tibetan scholar Tseten Zhabdrung (the Snyan ngag spyi don). The focus is the concept of “world-play” (sgra rgyan) and the various examples given in this section of the text. Nicole outlines the third chapter and delves into the “richness of the phonemic value of poetry” with focus on beat, rhythm, and alliteration using examples from one section of the commentarial text focused on “phonemic reduplication” (zung ldan). Professor Rabsal looks at […]

Ornamentation Shared by Poetry and SongMigmar Lama2022-10-26T05:23:38-06:00

Textuality and Materiality

Migmar Lama2022-10-26T05:22:00-06:00

What is the physical basis of a work of art and how does its material existence represent the process of its creation? Ben Nourse (University of Denver) and Alexander Gardner (Treasury of Lives) meander through various examples of physical objects embodying abstract work in this breakout session. Discussion about the constellation of objects around a book or a text considers that community endeavor could be important in creating material culture and that the appreciation and exploration of a physical location can enrich a translation of a certain text.

Textuality and MaterialityMigmar Lama2022-10-26T05:22:00-06:00

Lotsawa Translation Workshop Closing Remarks

Migmar Lama2022-10-26T05:24:17-06:00

In this short session, Dominique Townsend (Bard), Holly Gayley (University of Colorado, Boulder), Marcus Perman (Tsadra Foundation), Janet Gyatso (Harvard), Kurtis Schaeffer (UVa) and Lama Jabb (Oxford) offer their gratitude and brief reflections to responders, participants, and sponsors. Four participants of the workshop share their impressions of the weekend including having developed a deeper understanding of what is at stake in, and the challenges of, the practice of translation, and the importance of one’s disposition as an ambassador of a text’s content and context. Overall, attendees expressed appreciation of the collaborative process and how the community of translators of Tibetan […]

Lotsawa Translation Workshop Closing RemarksMigmar Lama2022-10-26T05:24:17-06:00

Conference 2017 Welcome Speeches

Marcus Perman2022-11-16T23:34:08-07:00

The opening ceremony of the 2017 Translation and Transmission Conference was introduced with speeches from Eric Colombel (President and Founder of the Tsadra Foundation), Chuck Lief (President of the Naropa University), and Valerio Ferme (Associate Dean for the Arts and Humanities of the University of Colorado). The conference was held at the University of Colorado Law School, Boulder, and attended by more than 250 translators, scholars, and practitioners representing over forty-five translation groups and sanghas and thirty-five universities around the world.

Conference 2017 Welcome SpeechesMarcus Perman2022-11-16T23:34:08-07:00

Evening Event with Donald Lopez Jr. and Thupten Jinpa

Marcus Perman2022-11-16T23:34:09-07:00

During the opening banquet, the tone of the conference was set by an intimate conversation between Professor Lopez and Geshe Jinpa discussing their love of Tibetan language and textual translation, as well as several book projects they have worked on together: Grains of Gold: Tales of a Cosmopolitan Traveler by Gendün Chöpel, The University of Chicago Press, 2014; The Treatise on Passion Dispelling the Darkness: A Jesuit’s Quest for the Soul of Tibet, Harvard University Press, 2017; and The Treatise on Passion by Gendun Chöpel, forthcoming.

Evening Event with Donald Lopez Jr. and Thupten JinpaMarcus Perman2022-11-16T23:34:09-07:00

What Authority Can a Translation Claim?

Marcus Perman2022-11-16T23:34:09-07:00

Although we recognise the fundamental importance of translation in the transmission of texts written in languages that we do not know, the question remains as to what authority a translation can claim. The relationship between translation and original has been a source of heated debate for centuries, with widely differing views as to how ‘faithfulness’ in translation might be defined. There is a paradox at the heart of how we view translation, for though we acknowledge the inherent difficulties of the task, we also take translation for granted to the point where translators become invisible. This paper will consider that […]

What Authority Can a Translation Claim?Marcus Perman2022-11-16T23:34:09-07:00

Translators and Intention

Marcus Perman2022-11-16T23:34:10-07:00

This first panel on the first day of the conference addressed questions related to translators and intention and the discussion ranged from Karl Brunnhölzl’s investigation of the art of “non-dual syntax” to Heidi Nevin’s insightful reflections on lineage and why we translate. Wulstan Fletcher of Padmakara Translation Group discussed the needs of target readers and the larger question of why and for whom do we translate, while Anne Klein shared her thoughts on the resonance and sometimes apparent tension between translation and transmission.

Translators and IntentionMarcus Perman2022-11-16T23:34:10-07:00

Translation Theories Made Practical

Marcus Perman2022-11-16T23:34:10-07:00

See the text discussed and presentation slides here.

Holly Gayley and Roger Jackson begin the discussion session with some provocations and a quote:

“Had translation depended for its survival on theory, it would have died out long before Cicero. Yet its practice has always assumed principle, the professional conscience of 2,000 years being summed up in Roman Jakobson’s ‘translator of what messages? betrayer of what values?’” – L.G. Kelly, The True Interpreter.

What makes for a good translation?
What are the translations you like to read and why?
What are the kinds of translations you like to create and why?

“Up to a point, each […]

Translation Theories Made PracticalMarcus Perman2022-11-16T23:34:10-07:00

The Translator’s Intention: Motivation, Intended Impact, and Why They Matter

Marcus Perman2022-11-16T23:34:11-07:00

This open discussion session focused on the themes of intention and motivation. Thomas Doctor and Eric Colombel facilitated the exploration of many topics the audience brought, including questions such as: What are the assumptions and expectations about reading audience? As a translator, do you feel the need to be clear and transparent about our background, perspectives, influences, and agenda? If so, how do you address that? What are we trying to reach in the readers? Cognitive understanding? Inspiration? Aesthetic enrichment? Somatic responses? Visionary opening? How do you assess the success of a translation?

The Translator’s Intention: Motivation, Intended Impact, and Why They MatterMarcus Perman2022-11-16T23:34:11-07:00