Sunday 10 June 2007

Moving right along ...

Well. . .
Does the internet improve the quality of communication?

Yesterday I was attempting to read, yet again, parts of The Idea of Reform: its impact on Christian thought in the Age of the Fathers, Harper and Row, 1967 by Gerhart Burian Ladner. The style of the translation is a little heavy, unfortunately. Being a slow reader, I find the text 'viscous.'

Towards the end of the book he includes some reflections on method. Particularly interesting (for me) was his first discursus on historical certainty and the definition of reform. (What is a definition anyway?)

Translation is my work. From Italian to English. Often sixteenth century Italian. These old texts belong to another time. A translation looks at the words of a text. But the text must be understood within its 'historical' context, its milieu. The translator is also an exegete.

Friday 8 June 2007

Getting started ....

I am particularly interested in the relationship between the Capuchin reform and Church reform in Italy up until the Council of Trent. Of course, your comments do not have to be so restricted.