© 1996 Chris Moseley
© 1996 International Urantia Association (IUA)
| Finnish Conference Explores Cosmic Citizenship | Journal — September 1996 — Index | Marriage, Parenting and Their Products |
Chris Moseley, UK (Editor of The Ascender - Britain’s newsletter for URANTIA Book readers)
An innocent looking letter arrived on my desk a few weeks ago from a group in New York State soliciting funds for a translation of The URANTIA Book into Korean. Rather shyly, the group styles itself “The New York Society”. Not only is a Korean translation under way but also a Russian one. Great idea isn’t it, translating the book into the major languages of the world, and a laudable thing to solicit funds for it too. They ask if I would give publicity to it in my next publication. That I’m only too happy to do. Speaking as a professional translator myself, I can have some dim inkling of the colossal amount of work involved in preparing a new translation of such a demanding volume. To be any good at all, and last a long time in print without major revision, it will have to be a team effort by people with rare skill and sensitivity, familiar with both the source and the target language—and as much skill will be required of the proof readers as well. It will require typographic and cover design, and print quality, which are not subject to the mere whims of late 20th century fashion. It will require consistent checking and cross-referencing throughout the life of the project.
What a colossal waste of effort it is, then—for the Foundation has translations of the book into both these languages well in hand. Such a completely unnecessary duplication of effort on a project where teamwork is vital is enough to make one gnash one’s teeth and weep. At the outset the New York Society is making the assumption that the Book and its translation rights are now in the public domain, though the copyright issue is still subject to appeal. In the case of the varying English editions of the Book, the question of copyright is, of course, central. But when it comes to translations we are moving out of the realm of moral rights over the text and into the realm of the absurd.
Must we look on helplessly while our movement tears itself apart?
Naturally these two sets of translations will reach their readers through separate publishing and distributing networks. Now of course we could take a charitable attitude and look on all this with short-term satisfaction: all hands on deck! Light must be brought speedily to those who sit in darkness. But imagine a scene a few years from now, when eager Korean and Russian speaking students of our book are coming together to form study groups. Having acquired their books from various sources, they sit down together to read—and find that they are reading from completely different texts! Verily, verily, the British and Foreign Bible Society was surely never as downright naive as we unworthy Urantians are. The question is: What can readers in other continents do to bring a halt to this damaging divisiveness? Must we look on helplessly while our movement tears itself apart?
COOPERATION
IS BETTER
THAN
CONFLICT
| Finnish Conference Explores Cosmic Citizenship | Journal — September 1996 — Index | Marriage, Parenting and Their Products |