The Translator Who Changed The World
The Translator who Changed the World
That headline sounds like a pipe dream, doesn’t it?
Just typing it makes me all itchy. But it is very true. Read on to learn more.
Who are we talking about?
Let me introduce you to Martin Luther.
The German one that is, not his also massively influential American namesake MLK.
Not too far from my hometown in Germany lies the Wartburg castle and we went there for a family trip this summer.
Now, I had been there before as a kid and always knew that this was the place where Luther had done his bible translation. But in my head he had only ever been that “reformer” dude.
Only now, when reading all the insights about him and his work I realized he was actually a fellow translator – and even more than that, a fellow transcreator.
Back in the 1500’s.
Without internet.
With non-exhaustive, hand-written dictionaries.
With very few peers to consult.
Adhering to the same principles and facing the same language work struggles as I do today. 🤯
More about that later.
The translator and his motivation
Born in 1483 – so exactly 500 years before yours truly –, Martin Luther was a German monk, author, professor, and – well, yes – a translator.
Today he is best known as the reformer who was in large part responsible for the formation of the Protestant denomination.
If you’ve never heard of the guy, here’s the gist of his backstory:
He dedicates his life to his Christian faith but later becomes fed up with the shady practices of the Roman Catholic church, especially the ability to simply pay money for absolution.
“As soon as the gold in the casket rings, the rescued soul to heaven springs.”
As a result, he publishes a paper calling out 95 accounts of BS, and he nails it to a cathedral door.
This gathers a truckload of support from commoners and nobility alike.
Obviously, the Pope and his minions are not amused by such defiance, and a shitstorm ensues.
That’s why Luther goes into hiding at the friendly Wartburg castle.
During this time he decides to re-translate the New Testament to German, based on the Greek sources and Latin translations.
In this process, he lays the groundwork for a common and unified German language and creates a multitude of new expressions that become part of everyday language until this very day.
His translations and teachings also lead to the fracturing of the Christian faith and as such to several hundred years of conflict… but we’ll conveniently ignore this here. Still, if that doesn’t qualify as “changing the world” then I don’t know what does.
What’s so special about his translation?
Well, it was groundbreaking in the truest sense of the word. It enabled Otto Normalbürger (that’s the German version of “average Joe”, Otto Normal-Citizen) to read, understand, and connect with the holy scripture.
Previously, the bible had only been accessible to the elite.
For one, printing was still a rare novelty at the time. Bibles back then were expensive, hand-written works, and mostly in Latin. That meant only clergy and nobility had direct access to God’s word.
Everyone else had to rely on the local preacher’s German interpretation skills of a Latin translation of a Greek original – a verbatim translation, mind you.
Needless to say, results were wildly inconsistent.
Luther understood that a literal translation was nonsense and counterproductive. The meaning was paramount, not the words.
If the readers were to understand the scripture they needed to connect with the meaning and intention. It required a transcreation. The bible had to speak in the same way people talk. I mean, what good is a book that nobody can decipher?
A novum. 1500 years and nobody had ever thought of that. The audacity!
There was just one problem: There was no “German” language.
In Luther’s times, what we consider German was split into some 14 major dialects. You could travel just 40 km and not understand the locals anymore. Madness!
As if translating 1200 years-old scripture wasn’t difficult enough, the poor guy had to invent a way of writing that would work for all the Germans. North, south, east, west. Regardless of dialect.
But despite the odds, he succeeded and massively shaped a German writing standard.
No Luther bible,
no unification of the
German language.
What a massive W.
The impact
It is impossible to overstate how BIG the impact of his transcreation was.
1) For one, the Christian faith shattered as the Protestants split off from the Catholics. With Luther, Jesus suddenly became the savior who forgives our sins rather than a vengeful spirit who would judge us at the end of days. That’s why he’s front and center and why the virgin Mary and the saints only play very minor roles in Protestant faith, while in Catholicism they are highly revered.
2) Secondly, and my favorite aspect, the vocab needed to represent the meaning of the source texts just didn’t exist at the time. Luther had to invent new expressions, hundreds of them. And they were so good, they resonated so well with the people that they stuck and became part of everyday speech. Until this very day.
In the picture on the right you can see a selection. Most of which are still in use today on a daily basis, I kid you not. We still use these every single day without even knowing that they originated from Luther as a transcreation some 500 years ago. From basic words like “Beruf” (work, occupation) and “Ordnung” (order, orderliness) to metaphors like “Perlen vor die Säue” (pearls before swine), “Wolf im Schafspelz” (wolf in sheep’s clothing), or “Feuertaufe” (baptism by fire).
That’s what transcreation is all about!
3) If these expressions sound familiar to you in English or in another language you may speak, that is not an accident. Because thirdly, his bible was then in turn translated further, shaping and enriching other languages and cultures as well.
Seriously, just try to grasp the impact on a political, societal, and cultural level. All because one guy decided the existing translation of a book isn’t good enough to reach the target audience. And boy did it reach them afterwards. A wave that swept around the globe and changed how people thought about the world.
Now, of course, where there is change there is conflict. And the religious wars resulting from this were numerous and they were brutal. That’s the dark side of having such an impact.
The legend
In this picture, you can see Luther’s workplace at the Wartburg. Essentially a holding cell for more illustrious prisoners.
If you’re wondering why the wall near the oven looks so torn, there is a good reason for it: There is an ink stain on the wall there. A very famous ink stain.
The story goes, while Luther was working on his translations the devil appeared in his chambers to tempt him.
And like the good Christian he was, he told the devil to piss off, grabbed his ink jar, and threw it at him. Hence, the ink stain on the wall.
As a fellow translator, I can definitely relate. I know the feeling, too. I see plenty of devils I want to throw shit at during the work week. Luther didn’t even have email back then…
Now, the wall looks like this because already in Luther’s times the story spread and the fanboys started coming to grab a piece of the famous ink stain as a souvenir. Dude was a rockstar already back then.
What’s left of it gets refreshed every now and then with new ink.
Conclusion
There you have it, ladies and gentlepeople. How a translator and a single transcreation piece can shape power dynamics, cultures, and a people.
Thanks for sticking with me through this long read.
Was it interesting? Did you already know about Luther, his transcreation work, and his impact? Do you know any other translation examples that shaped the world as we know it? Let me know in the comments!