Abstracts
Abstract
Translations and paraphrases of the Biblical psalms were popular throughout early modern Europe. The Latin poetic paraphrase of Psalm 51 by George Buchanan is examined alongside the Scots-language translation of Psalm 2 by Alexander Montgomerie to illustrate some of the complexities of the Renaissance interplay between Latin and vernacular translation, poetics, confession, and politics. Both poets engage with contemporary debates over the meaning of the Biblical texts, and both display a high degree of poetic and rhetorical sophistication in transforming the psalms according to their own interpretative commitments. Each demonstrates close attention towards and care for correct interpretation, and each shows a high degree of freedom in adapting and recreating the polysemous meanings of the original while also applying new meanings to serve their own liturgical, spiritual, and poetic purposes.
Keywords:
- George Buchanan,
- Alexander Montgomerie,
- Psalms,
- Translation,
- Early Modern Scotland
Résumé
Les traductions et paraphrases des Psaumes furent populaires dans l’Europe de la première modernité. La paraphrase latine du Psaume 51 par George Buchanan et la traduction en scots du Psaume 2 par Alexander Montgomerie font l’objet d’une étude commune afin de mettre en lumière certaines particularités de l’interaction complexe entre traduction en latin et en langue vernaculaire, poétique, confession et politique à la Renaissance. Ces deux poètes prennent part aux débats contemporains sur l’exégèse des textes bibliques et font tous deux preuve d’un haut niveau de sophistication poétique et rhétorique dans la transformation des psaumes, en fonction de leurs propres postures interprétatives. Chacun d’entre eux manifeste une attention et un souci tout particuliers pour l’interprétation juste, et chacun adapte et rend les significations polysémiques du texte original avec beaucoup de liberté, tout en dégageant de nouvelles significations servant ses propres objectifs liturgiques, spirituels et poétiques.
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