Translating liturgical language : a critical perspective

Abstract

The Catechism of the Catholic Church sets forth that 'the way we worship is the way we believe', with liturgy forming a constitutive element of a living, dynamic Tradition.1 This dissertation sets out to answer the question of how two of the Church's most influential documents regarding the translation of liturgy, Comme le prévoit (1969) and Liturgiam Authenticam (2001), had and continue to have systemic impact on the rendering of the Sacramentary into English. Placing their different strategies for translation into critical opposition and exploring strategies of distinction and befriending, I hope to better understand the approaches brought to bear upon translations of the various editions of the Roman Missal by fixing the texts within larger trends in translation and literary theory, while clarifying the historical context in which the liturgists behind these translations were active. This dissertation will take a critical look at what these perspectives have meant, and continue to mean, for liturgical worship among English speaking Catholics.