Derzhavnaya bogoroditsa?

[Sibelan Forrester]

This very interesting thread reminds me of a wonderful book that 
addresses analogous questions: Naomi Seidman's _Faithful Renderings: 
Jewish-Christian Difference and the Politics of Translation_ (U of 
Chicago Press, 2006). Informative and beautifully written.

Best wishes,

Sibelan


Sibelan Forrester
Professor of Russian
Modern Languages and Literatures
Swarthmore College


Allan, Kenneth wrote:
> As an art historian, though certainly not an expert in this area, I
> would tend to opt for the "Mother of God" over the "Virgin" label,
> for the same reasons that Michele Berdy outlines below. Translation,
> ideally, shouldn't remove what is unique to the original concept and
> tradition in favour of easy communication.
> 
> 
> 
> Regarding objectivity and neutrality in the art history field, it is
> problematic to equate the power of the centre with neutrality. So if
> the Met prefers "Virgin," that merely tells us its preference and
> what it feels comfortable with as an institution addressing an
> audience more familiar with the Western European Catholic painting
> tradition. (Exhibition catalogues tend to address non-specialist
> audiences.) But because Orthodox icons seem to function quite
> differently than do Catholic paintings, using the dominant Catholic
> terminology can confuse the distinctions between them.
> 
> 
> 
> Best,
> 
> Kenneth Allan
> 
> 
> 
> University of Lethbridge
> 
> 
> 

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