The Post-Vatican II Roman Missal in English: A Preliminary Comparison of Two English Translations

Wiktor Pskit

doi:10.18290/rh.2019.67.11-4

Wiktor Pskit University of Łódź, Institute of English Studies

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18290/rh.2019.67.11-4

Keywords: Roman Missal; liturgical language; hieratic language; English translation

Abstract

Following the Second Vatican Council the Roman Catholic liturgy has undergone significant changes. One of them is the shift towards the vernacular as the language of liturgy. First of all, the post-conciliar liturgical reform resulted in a considerable reduction in liturgical texts. Secondly, the shift towards the vernacular entailed further changes, including substantial departure of some translations (e.g. English or German) from the original Latin text of the socalled editio typica of Paul VI’s Missal. This paper is concerned with the differences between the two English translations of the postconciliar Roman Missal (1969/1970), i.e. the 1973 version and the currently used 2010 translation. The analysis has a preliminary character as it deals with selected parts of the Roman Missal in English. The paper focuses on the major differences at the levels of lexis and grammatical structure and it seeks to demonstrate how two radically opposing approaches to the translation of the language of worship contribute to the emergence of texts that significantly differ in their content, style and emphasis.

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