Faithful Renderings
reads translation history through the lens of Jewish-Christian difference and, conversely, views Jewish-Christian difference as an effect of translation. Subjecting translation to a theological-political analysis, Seidman asks how the charged Jewish-Christian relationship--and more particularly the dependence of Christianity on the texts and translations of a rival religion--has haunted the theory and practice of translation in the West. Bringing together central issues in translation studies with episodes in Jewish-Christian history, Naomi Seidman considers a range of texts, from the Bible to Elie Wiesel's
Night
, delving into such controversies as the accuracy of various Bible translations, the medieval use of converts from Judaism to Christianity as translators, the censorship of anti-Christian references in Jewish texts, and the translation of Holocaust testimony.
ultimately reveals that translation is not a marginal phenomenon but rather a crucial issue for understanding the relations between Jews and Christians and indeed the development of each religious community.