Re:The Wisdom in Kung Fu Panda
by dwohnitmok on Wednesday March 23, 2022 @04:25PM
(#30782886)
> I've always been curious why we translate old passages into "thou"s and "let not"s.
> This might be why modern people feel so disconnected from past people, even though we're basically identical.
If the original text used what was already considered an archaic or rarefied register at its time of composition (as is often true of various classical works, indeed this is often basically what a "classical language" means), then a translator, in the process of trying to convey the original author's tone and intent, might choose to do the same in the target language.
> This might be why modern people feel so disconnected from past people, even though we're basically identical.
If the original text used what was already considered an archaic or rarefied register at its time of composition (as is often true of various classical works, indeed this is often basically what a "classical language" means), then a translator, in the process of trying to convey the original author's tone and intent, might choose to do the same in the target language.