Faithful Renderings

Faithful Renderingsreads translation history through the lens of JewishChristian difference and, conversely, views JewishChristian difference as an effect of translation. Subjecting translation to a theological-political analysis, Seidman asks how the charged JewishChristian relationshipand more particularly the dependence of Christianity on the texts and translations of a rival religionhas haunted the theory and practice of translation in the West. Bringing together central issues in translation studies with episodes in JewishChristian history, Naomi Seidman considers a range of texts, from the Bible to Elie Wiesel's Night, delving into such controversies as the accuracy of various Bible translations, the medieval use of converts from Judaism to Christianity as translators, the censorship of anti-Christian references in Jewish texts, and the translation of Holocaust testimony. Faithful Renderings ultimately reveals that translation is not a marginal phenomenon but rather a crucial issue for understanding the relations between Jews and Christians and indeed the development of each religious community.

Naomi Seidman is the Koret Professor of Jewish Culture and director of the Richard S. Dinner Center for Jewish Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California.