ABSTRACT
The chapter explores the untranslatability of canonical texts in terms of their physical integrity and semantic saturation. Sacred scriptures tend to be protected by explicit requirements and prohibitions, which may mean that translations are forbidden or assigned a status significantly lower than the original. Christianity, which needs translation for its dissemination, typically seeks compromises in this respect, for instance by canonizing certain translations. Saturation denotes the inexhaustibility of meaning attributed to sacred texts deemed untranslatable because no interpretation or translation can capture their full meaning. Nevertheless, a proselytising religion still needs to translate. The second part of the chapter explores untranslatability in literary contexts. Although literature lacks authoritative institutional structures, its canonical texts enjoy quasi-sacred status, with translations traditionally regarded as forever inadequate. Literary untranslatability is primarily a matter of perceived semantic saturation. Paradoxically perhaps, the recent interest in world literature has rekindled debates about translatability, with the multilingual Dictionary of Untranslatables (2014) adding both philosophical and practical conceptualizations of the untranslatable.
