, Brepols, 2023 Paperback, 528 pages, Size:178 x 254 mm, Illustrations:1 col., 1 tables b/w., Language: English. ISBN 9782503600338.
Summary The volume deals with the issue of translation automatisms in early vernacular texts predating 1650. It introduces the novel concept of ?translation clusters', first defined in machine translation theory, but equally considering a wider array of situations that involve ?translation units', ?language automatisms', ?culturemes', and ?formulaic borrowings' in vernacular texts. Contrary to contemporary languages, where translation units, clusters, and automatisms appear frequently due to the influence of standard language varieties or dialects, the vernacular idioms of the Middle Ages and Early Modern period are often pluricentric. Consequently, automatisms are limited to specific cases where diachronic, diatopic, diastratic, and diaphasic variants align similarly in two otherwise different translations. This is a crucial topic for philology, as it can explain accidents that ecdotic methods tend to mistake for variant readings of a single ?redactio'. The volume aims to determine the organic interplay between three primary situations in which common coincidences between translations or texts occur. Firstly the volume explores the shared elements resulting from the transfer of textual units between multiple translations or adaptations (quotations, corrections, formulas). Secondly chapters study the shared elements arising from the existence of a common source text (translation clusters, based on translation units); and lastly, the volume questions the fixed, inherent, and unchangeable aspects of the target language (language automatisms, often coinciding with translation units). The chapters of this volume focus on numerous vernacular languages and a multitude of case studies, with a particular emphasis on biblical translation?a cornerstone of contemporary translation studies. The chapter format encourages diverse perspectives to push the boundaries of philology, translation studies, and ?vernacular theologies?.