Experiencing Translationality: Material and Metaphorical Journeys

223 Pages·2023·11.492 MB·English

by  Piotr Blumczyński

EXPERIENCING TRANSLATIONALITY
This innovative book takes the concept of translation beyond its traditional
boundaries, adding to the growing body of literature which challenges the idea of
translation as a primarily linguistic transfer.
To gain a fresh perspective on the work of translation in the complex processes of
meaning-making across physical, social and cultural domains (conceptualized as
translationality), Piotr Blumczynski revisits one of the earliest and most fundamental
senses of translation: corporeal transfer. His study of translated religious officials and
translated relics reframes our understanding of translation as a process creating a sense
of connection with another time, place, object or person. He argues that a promise
of translationality animates a broad spectrum of cultural, artistic and commercial
endeavours: it is invoked, for example, in museum exhibitions, art galleries, celebrity
endorsements, and the manufacturing of musical instruments. Translationality offers
a way to reimagine the dynamic entanglements of matter and meaning, space and
time, past and present.
This book will be of interest to students and scholars in translation studies as well
as related disciplines such as the history of religion, anthropology of art, and material
culture.
Piotr Blumczynski is Senior Lecturer in Translation and Interpreting at Queen’s
University Belfast. He is the author of Ubiquitous Translation (2016), co-editor of The
Languages of COVID-19 (2023) and editor-in-chief of the journal Translation Studies.

EXPERIENCING
TRANSLATIONALITY
Material and Metaphorical Journeys
Piotr Blumczynski
Designed cover image: © Getty Images
First published 2023
by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
and by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Piotr Blumczynski
The right of Piotr Blumczynski to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent
to infringe.
ISBN: 978-1-032-45987-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-46545-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-38220-1 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003382201
Typeset in Bembo
by Taylor & Francis Books
For Lauren

CONTENTS
List of figures viii
Acknowledgements x
Introduction 1
1 What does translation do? 7
2 Squaring the circle: Episcopal translations 45
3 Holy bones: Translations of relics 83
4 From gift shops to the Custom Shop: Translationality for sale 144
5 The experience of translationality 174
References 195
Index 206
FIGURES
1.1 A group of mountaineers carrying their gear 11
1.2 Concentric shock waves on water “moving” outward from
the point of impact 25
2.1 The First Council of Nicaea. Detail of a fresco from the
church of St. Nicholas, Demre, southern Turkey 54
2.2 The Reformation Wall in Genewa, Switzerland, with statues
of the four main proponents of Calvinism: William Farel,
John Calvin, Theodore Beza, and John Knox 69
3.1 The Basilica of St Ambrose, Milan, Italy 86
3.2 The silver reliquary of St Adalbert (Wojciech) of Prague in
the Gniezno Cathedral, Poland 89
3.3 Damaged sarcophagus in the church of St Nicholas in Demre
(ancient Myra), Turkey 95
3.4 Seventeenth-century icon of the translation of the relics of St
Nicholas of Myra 97
3.5 The Holy Shroud of Turin, Italy 104
3.6 A golden reliquary containing the relics of merchant and
martyr Saint Cugat in the Basilica de Santa Maria Del Mar in
Barcelona, Spain 110
3.7 “Shrine of St Patrick’s hand”. A silver gilt arm-reliquary on
display in the Ulster Museum, Belfast, Northern Ireland 124
3.8 The heart of St Laurence O’Toole. Christ Church Cathedral,
Dublin, Ireland 124
3.9 Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral procession on 19 September
2022 134
List of illustrations ix
3.10 The Chairman Mao Memorial Hall on Tiananmen Square in
Beijing, China 141
4.1 Palaeolithic rock painting in the Altamira cave, Santillana del
Mar, Cantabria, Spain 147
4.2 A variety of electric guitar models 150
4.3 Eric Clapton’s Fender Stratocaster “Blackie” on display in the
Guitar Center in New York City, USA 152
4.4 A close-up view of a vintage heavy relic electric guitar 162
5.1 A printer’s tray 181
5.2 A collection of guitars 190