[Buddha-l] Photographs of Vasubandhu

["Kåre A. Lie"]

At 08:54 03.11.2006 -0500, you wrote:
>K.L.>> Hmmm ... maybe we should have the book translated into English, for the
> >> > > benefit of those few of you who are not quite fluent in Norwegian 
> yet ...
> > >
>R.H. >>An English translation would be most welcome,
>
>K.L> Svein (my co-author) and I have been toying with the idea.  The 
>problem of
>course is that we both feel that our native language is the best medium for
>expressing our very subtle thinking. And do you really want yet another
>Buddhist book in unidiomatic English?<
>
>Dear Kare and Richard,
>
>I also would be very happy to read your work, and an unidiomatic English 
>would do just fine.

Lots of thanks to you and others for encouraging comments. I will talk it 
over with Svein and see if we can manage this.

>I have often thought about the pros and cons of writing in Italian, i.e. 
>my native language. On the one hand, it seems like it would be a shame if 
>people simply stopped writing academic Italian and chose English instead 
>to reach a wider audience. On the other hand, the vast majority of what 
>Buddhist scholars write in Italian is completely and utterly ignored in 
>the academic world. An advanced PhD student here at the University of 
>Virginia recently asked me if there is such thing as the study of Buddhism 
>in Italy. [But he also had some doubt about Europe in general.] I suppose 
>in part this is a matter of laziness. Anyone who can read French or 
>Spanish fluently can read academic Italian with just a little effort and 
>the occasional use of a dictionary.
>
>So what shall we do? Simply abandon our native languages? Or shall we 
>write in tongues that very few people care to read?

On the one hand, we naturally wish to make the writings available to as 
many people as possible. On the other hand we have to face the fact that 
there are lots of languages spoken and written around the world.

As for myself, I read several languages and can also make myself 
(reasonably) understood (most of the time) in other languages than my 
native language. But there are two factors in favor of using ones own 
native language, and to me both are important.

The first and most obious one is of course that unless you are perfectly 
bilingual (which relatively few people are), your native language will 
always the one where you express yourself most fluently, the one where you 
find the exact nuances you wish to express.

The second point is that those of us who are natives to language 
communities other than English, have a responsibility for our native 
communities. If I have gained some knowledge of for instance Buddhist 
texts, I feel an obligation to share with my fellow countrymen (and 
-women). Therefore I have focused on finding words and expressions in the 
Norwegian language to convey Buddhist texts and Buddhist concepts - from my 
first translation of the Dhammapada in 1976 until this day.

For most of the translations then, there is no problem. The translations 
are aimed at those who understand Norwegian. The same texts are available 
in English, German etc., so it would be absurd to think of retranslating my 
Norwegian translations into other languages.

But the situation is not quite that straightforward when we come to 
Madhyantavibhaga. The only full translation into English of this work (as 
far as I know) is Stefan Anacker's, and I have to admit that I disagree 
with some of his choices. There is a summary of the text in Potter "Encycl. 
of Indian Philosophies" Vol VIII, and both Stcherbatsky and Kochumuttom 
have translated the first chapter . So is there a need for yet another 
version? What is new in our version, is that in addition to the translation 
of the Karika and Bhashya, Svein and I are interspersing the translation 
with our own comments, almost in the style of a classical tika, where we 
discuss the text and draw comparisons with anything from Pali texts to 
modern philosophers, etc. So maybe the totality of the translation and our 
own comments could be worthwhile to some.

Therefore, we'll think and talk it over.

Best regards,

Kåre A. Lie
http://www.lienet.no
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