Quality in Translation: A Multi-threaded Fabric

The Bible Translation Movement is at a unique juncture in time as the Task receives unprecedented awareness and growing worldwide effort. One focus in this juncture is the effort to accelerate the pace at which translations are completed with much attention given to innovative ways of translation. These innovative efforts are often helpful, but they force us to reconsider certain ideas about translation. One of these ideas is translation quality. Although those in the Movement agree that translation quality is important, there are various perspectives about translation quality and its practical application in field projects.

In this opening chapter, we synthesize the perspectives presented at the Pike Center / Nida Institute Working Symposium on “Quality in Translation: A Multi-threaded Fabric.” We also include some of the perspectives presented in concept papers at the Exploratory Symposium earlier in the year. We will show that quality is, in part, a function of the model and the values on which it is based, leading to competing views of quality. Nevertheless, there are certain facets that emerge in our view as critical to any model. We will draw on the insights of the authors in this volume to present a synthesis of these important facets in a unified whole.