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Leading Russian writers work
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| A mountain village in Ossetia, where the Bible Society in Russia has established a team to translate the Bible into Ossetic. Photo: BSR (RUS05DJ-13.JPG) |
RUSSIAN FEDERATION — Spanning 11 time zones and covering more than 17 million sq km, the Russian Federation, perhaps more than any other country in the world, is a place of incredible diversity. One of the ways in which this is reflected is in its languages, of which there are more than 100.
During the Communist era, speakers of minority languages were often marginalised and sometimes forced to assimilate with larger language groups. Now, though, small federations are regaining a sense of national identity. With this comes a renewed pride in their language and their literary heritage.
Excerpts from a series of reports compiled by Andrei Ovsiannikov, Executive Director of the St Petersburg branch of the Bible Society in Russia, reveal that this trend is having a positive impact on Bible translation work and that, in many cases, well-known writers in particular languages are being drawn to translation. They are showing great enthusiasm and devotion, setting aside their other writing work for long periods of time in order to undergo the necessary training and carry out the painstaking research required to produce top quality translations.
Bashkir
The Bashkir people, who number around 1.6 million, are descended from the tribes that used to roam the southern Urals. Most of them now live in the Bashkortostan Republic, between the Volga River and the Ural Mountains. Although the first written materials in Bashkir date back to the tenth century, Christian speakers of this language have never had access to a full Bible in their own language. So in the late 1980s, local Christian communities approached the Bible Society with a request to begin a translation project. After consultation with religious leaders, journalists, linguists and academics, a five-member team was created and in 2000 they began a two-year training course in Ancient Hebrew.
Several well-known Bashkir authors are among the translators. They include Gulsira Gizatullina, who has proved to have a particular talent for translation. Indeed, such is the quality of her work that the Bible Society is now hoping to send her to a western European university to undertake further studies. All the translators, though, are striving for the highest possible standards as they tackle challenges such as finding words for concepts that do not exist in Bashkir. Assisted by Bible Society and UBS experts and the latest translation software, they have now completed or are working on 16 Old Testament books. They are also working on a dictionary of proper names and a glossary of Bible terms.
Buryat
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| These Buryat people are eagerly awaiting a new translation of the Bible in their own language. Buryat Republic, Russian Federation. Photo: BSR (RUS05DJ-11.JPG) |
The Buryat people are the descendants of the ancient Mongols. Within Russia, the Buryat language is spoken by around 450,000 people, but it is also spoken by a further 100,000 living in China and Mongolia. The Buryat Republic, located around Lake Baikal close to the border with Mongolia, is one of the poorest in the Russian Federation because of its shortage of natural resources and its underdeveloped infrastructure.
Revival
Responding to a revival taking place in Buryat churches during the 1990s, the Bible Society launched the Buryat translation project in 1998. Once again, extensive training took place before the translation team – already highly qualified in their own fields – were allowed to begin their work on the Old Testament.
Expert
The team includes Galina Ochirova, an expert on ancient Buryat manuscripts, Olga Rusinova, an expert on the history and culture of Ancient Egypt, Garma-Dodi Dambaev, a writer, editor and translator, Munko-Zhagal Ochirov, a translator and interpreter, and Irina Gomboin, a poet and writer. Ms Gomboin has a particular interest in the translation project. Her father-in-law, Genghis Gomboin, was one of the best-known Buryat writers. He was involved in the translation work from its beginning, and successfully completed a translation of the Book of Genesis. This demanding work took its toll on his health, though, and he became seriously ill. Realising that he would not be able to continue, he passed all his materials to his daughter-in-law and begged her to complete the work at all costs. At that time, she was writing poetry and hosting a television programme. But when her father-in-law died in 2003, she gave up this work and asked the Bible Society to arrange for her to learn Ancient Hebrew so that she would be equipped to translate. Now she is the only Buryat-speaker who knows Ancient Hebrew and is one of the team’s leading translators.
So far, the translation team has completed or is working on 18 Old Testament books. As with the Bashkir project, work is also under way on a dictionary of proper names and a glossary of Bible terms.
Ossetic
Ossetic is the only language spoken in the northern Caucasus which belongs to the Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. There are around 500,000 speakers, most of whom belong to the Christian tradition (Christianity arrived early in this part of the world and the first Ossetic Bible translations appeared in the eighteenth century).
Equipped
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| Irina Gomboin was a poet and television presenter before she began work on the Buryat Bible translation project. She is now one of the team's leading translators. Buryat Republic, Russian Federation. Photo: BSR (RUS05DJ-12.JPG) |
In 1998, the Bible Society heard that a group of Ossetians had begun a modern translation of the Bible into their own language. Ossetic-speaking Christian communities were very enthusiastic about this project, but it was clear that the translators were not fully equipped for the work. Eager to help, the Bible Society sent some staff members to Ossetia to assess what was required. Later, a two-year course was set up in St Petersburg to ensure that the team members – who included a poet, a writer and a book editor – were fully trained in the basics of Bible translation and in the latest research techniques.
One of the team’s leading members is Kazbek Mamukayev, a 48-year-old who is a philologist by training. This is how he came to be involved:
“I first became interested in religion in 1989. I was disillusioned with Communist ideology and was eager to get out of the dead-end in which I found myself. This happened surprisingly quickly. Being a bookworm by nature, I could not help being attracted by the Christian library which I encountered on a table in a street in Vladikavkaz.
Out of despair
To cut a long story short, I was brought out of my despair by believing in God. I read avidly everything that came my way. I found, however, that the quality of the Ossetic Bible translations, both old and new, was not very good. This was frustrating, as I had a strong desire to read the Bible in my native language.
In 1991, I began to think about translating John’s Gospel myself. At that time I was working in a furniture factory, but I spent all my free time translating. It took me about nine months to complete John’s Gospel, using various Russian and Ossetic translations. I knew that my translation wasn’t perfect, but working on it brought me real joy.
Injured
In 1992 my translation was published in a national journal. Since 1998 I have been working in collaboration with the St Petersburg branch of the Bible Society. I took a two-year course in Bible translation and Ancient Hebrew and have so far translated four books: Genesis, 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles. I am currently working on Leviticus.”
“Last year Mr Mamukayev was seriously injured in a car accident,” Mr Ovsiannikov adds. “He saw his survival as divine will and carried on translating while he was still in hospital!”
The Ossetic translation team has completed or is working on eight Old Testament books, as well as a dictionary of proper names and a glossary of Bible terms.
Other languages
Other languages of the Russian Federation in which the Bible Society is leading translation projects include Yakut (444,000 speakers), Altai (73,000 speakers), Chuvash (two million speakers, see World Report 393/1) and Kreshen (300,000 speakers, see World Report 359/12 and 363/25). (WR 394/10 - 07.05) [8 photos]