Latin Translations – For Every Need

Latin translations of the 12th century were spurred by a major search by European scholars for new learning unavailable in Christian Europe at the time; their search led them to areas of southern Europe, particularly in central Spain and Sicily, which recently had come under Christian rule following their reconquest in the late 11th century. These areas had been under a more knowledgeable Muslim rule for considerable time, and still had substantial Arabic-speaking populations to support their search. The combination of Muslim accumulated knowledge, substantial numbers of Arabic-speaking scholars, and the new Christian rulers made these areas intellectually attractive, as well as culturally and politically accessible to Latin scholars. The latter concern was reflected in a renewed interest in translations of the Greek Church Fathers into Latin, a concern with translating Jewish teachings from Hebrew, an interest in the Qur’an and other Islamic religious texts. In addition, some Arabic literature was also translated into Latin.

The 20th century has witnessed an explosion in specialised translation thanks to the development of international relations as well as an increase in scientific theory, forming the basis for the training of translators and interpreters today. More recent theories, on the other hand, call for the various aspects of the source text to viewed with differing priority so that the translation meets the specified demands of the target text reader. These demands are influenced by factors external to the text, such as time and place, intention of the translator, exceptions of the translation’s recipient, conventions for particular texts in the target language and culture etc.

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