Translating the West: Reception of Ideas and Language Tools in the Palaiologan Period
TRAWL investigates Latin-to-Greek translations in Palaiologan Byzantium (1261-1453) as a lens for exploring processes of linguistic adaptation and cultural transfer between the Latin West and the Greek East. Focusing on philosophical and theological writings translated between the late 13th and 15th centuries by prominent Byzantine intellectuals, the project offers a new perspective on the Eastern reception of Western thought during a period of intensifying cross-cultural exchange. The source corpus includes both edited and previously unedited texts: Boethius’ "De consolatione philosophiae" translated by Maximos Planudes; Thomas Aquinas’ "De rationibus fidei contra Saracenos, Graecos et Armenios ad cantorem Antiochenum" in Demetrios Kydones' version; Boethius’ "De Trinitate" rendered by Manuel Kalekas; four anonymous, unedited translations – the creeds of the First and Third Councils of Toledo, the pseudo-Augustinian "De igne purgatorio," and Aquinas’ "Sermo de festo Corporis Christi" –; and, for diachronic comparison, Theodore Gazes’ 15th-century Greek version of Cicero’s "De senectute." TRAWL pursues three main objectives: 1) to produce critical editions of the unedited texts; 2) to analyse translation strategies by mapping syntactic structures (e.g., participial constructions and the rendering of declarative, final, hypothetical, and relative clauses), lexical choices (including syncategorematic elements such as conjunctions, prepositions, and adverbs), and rhetorical techniques in relation to their Latin sources; 3) to create an indexed Latin-Greek glossary and a digital repository of annotated texts to trace translation patterns and diachronic developments. By reversing the conventional direction of inquiry – from Greek into Latin – TRAWL brings to light a lesser-known yet culturally significant phenomenon, redefining translation as a creative act of linguistic innovation and intercultural mediation.
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Imported from OpenAIRE Italy | Grant 101266473.
Open sourceOverview
Grant agreement 101266473 | TRAWL
Open sourceTRAWL investigates Latin-to-Greek translations in Palaiologan Byzantium (1261-1453) as a lens for exploring processes of linguistic adaptation and cultural transfer between the Latin West and the Greek East. Focusing on philosophical and theological writings translated between the late 13th and 15th centuries by prominent Byzantine intellectuals, the project offers a new perspective on the Eastern reception of Western thought during a period of intensifying cross-cultural exchange. The source corpus includes both edited and previously unedited texts: Boethius’ "De consolatione philosophiae" translated by Maximos Planudes; Thomas Aquinas’ "De rationibus fidei contra Saracenos, Graecos et Armenios ad cantorem Antiochenum" in Demetrios Kydones' version; Boethius’ "De Trinitate" rendered by Manuel Kalekas; four anonymous, unedited translations – the creeds of the First and Third Councils of Toledo, the pseudo-Augustinian "De igne purgatorio," and Aquinas’ "Sermo de festo Corporis Christi" –; and, for diachronic comparison, Theodore Gazes’ 15th-century Greek version of Cicero’s "De senectute." TRAWL pursues three main objectives: 1) to produce critical editions of the unedited texts; 2) to analyse translation strategies by mapping syntactic structures (e.g., participial constructions and the rendering of declarative, final, hypothetical, and relative clauses), lexical choices (including syncategorematic elements such as conjunctions, prepositions, and adverbs), and rhetorical techniques in relation to their Latin sources; 3) to create an indexed Latin-Greek glossary and a digital repository of annotated texts to trace translation patterns and diachronic developments. By reversing the conventional direction of inquiry – from Greek into Latin – TRAWL brings to light a lesser-known yet culturally significant phenomenon, redefining translation as a creative act of linguistic innovation and intercultural mediation.