The Bible has formed, thanks some unusually gifted translators, the bedrock of many cultures, not only in what people call the West. In Germany, Luther’s and his friends’ pioneering translations (1522-1545) had an enormous impact on the development of the German language and literature. Anglophone cultures have been deeply influenced by the famous King James Version (1611), which followed William Tyndale’s pioneering translations (1526-1536) and other English Bibles of the 16th century. These early translators put the Holy Scriptures, formerly available only to clerical elites trained in the ancient languages, into the hands of every eager reader, regardless of class, ethnicity, faith, or, indeed, sex.

Serious students of literature need to be familiar with key aspects and key passages of the Bible; hence this course. In a first step, we will look at classic and modern poets who ‘translated’ and transformed individual passages, mainly from the New Testament. The center and culmination of our course, however, will be a three-day-field trip to Wittenberg on 11-13 June. Together with our fellow students from the Theology department, we will study representative texts, mainly from the New Testament, as literary compositions. We will also discuss the aesthetics and politics of translation and interpretation in the Reformation period and today. Another possible field trip (date to be decided) will take us to the Bible Studies projects at the Goettingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

This course is especially designed for serious L3 and MA students with an interest in Religious and Cultural Studies (Kulturwissenschaften). We will cooperate with related seminars in Theology taught by Professors Kleffmann and Klumbies. Our three-day field trip to Wittenberg from 11 to 13 June is mandatory. Since funding and places are limited, early registration (via email) and attendance at our first meeting on 18 April are required.

First session: 18 April 2024, 14-16, Konferenzraum des IAA, KW 5, 4048