(Colloquial Speech or a Literary Work? How to Deal with Methodological Difficulties in Translating Augustine’s Homilies)

Abstract: The aim of this article is to define some methodological principles regarding the translation of Augustine’s exegetical homilies from Latin into the Slovak language with the view of the needs of modern recipients. In order to pursue this goal, we have analysed the corpus of Augustine’s Homilies on John’s Gospel (Tractatus in Iohannis Euangelium 1-16) which reflect the real speech of his contemporaries. While doing so we take into consideration not only the contents of homilies but also their formal aspect that very often attracted the hearer’s attention more than the contents itself, and so had both aesthetic and didactic functions at the same time. The proposed methodological principles can thus help translators to make accessible authentic Latin speech in a target language with the use of stylistic means, mainly some figures of speech which facilitate the process of remembering preacher’s message. Moreover, in order to demonstrate what effect this formal aspect of Augustine’s homilies had on his hearers, we have prepared sound records of Augustine’s selected homilies in the Slovak language illustrating his preaching art. The major contribution of the article is thus the new approach toward formal aspect of Augustine’s homilies which has not been dealt with systematically so far in Slovakia.

Authors: Andoková, Marcela – Horka, Róbert

DOI: 10.17846/CL.2023.16.2.186-198

Publication order reference: doc. Mgr. et Mgr. Marcela Andoková, MA, PhD.; Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Arts, Department of Classical Languages, Gondova 2, 811 02 Bratislava, Slovakia; email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; ORCID ID: 0000-0001-8551-792X, SCOPUS Author ID: 57220180807
doc. Mgr. Róbert Horka, PhD.; Comenius University, Faculty of Roman Catholic Theology of Cyril and Methodius, Kapitulská 26, 814 58 Bratislava, Slovakia; email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; ORCID ID: 0000-0001-5663-4529, SCOPUS Author ID: 57224821452

Source: Konštatínove listy, 2023, vol.: 16, issue: 2, pages: 186-198 (PDF file)

Keywords: SAINT AUGUSTINE, SPOKEN WORD, PREACHING ACTIVITY, EXEGETICAL HOMILIES, METHODOLOGY OF TRANSLATION, FIGURES OF SPEECH

Language: SLOVAK

Recommended Citation:
Andoková, Marcela – Horka, Róbert. 2023. Hovorová reč či literárne dielo? Ako sa vysporiadať s metodologickými úskaliami pri preklade Augustínových kázní [Colloquial Speech or a Literary Work? How to Deal with Methodological Difficulties in Translating Augustine’s Homilies]. In Konštantínove listy [Constantine’s Letters] 16/2, 186-198.