This course will explore the history of the translation of sacred texts of many traditions and from antiquity to our own day, with particular attention to political and cultural as well as linguistic negotiation, as well as to the colonial and European origins of "sacred texts" as organizing category.

The course will begin with readings in translation theory (and in particular in postcolonial translation theory), recognizing that theoretical approaches to the problem of translation themselves emerge from theologically and politically charged historical conditions. We continue through a series of case studies about the intersections between sacredness and (in)translatability, and the translation theories implicit in various traditions.

The course might culminate in a study of contemporary pop culture artifacts' efforts to translate sacred texts or in a workshop where we try our hand at the craft of translation of sacred texts.