Bilingual Hymnal Question from Duane Binkley

[Haruo]

Duane Binkley wrote in email:

">I am not aware of anyone else working on or thinking about a
bilingual
>hymnal. …
>
>You noticed that in some cases the music is different than what we might
>think of in the US. I suspect that in some cases some changes have been
>made in the lyrics as well. In a bilingual hymnal, would the English words
>try to match the Karen or would they stay true to the original lyrics. If
>they stay true to the original lyrics, then in some cases, the Karen singers
>and English singers might be singing slightly different things but I'm not
>sure if that is an issue."

[Haruo]

Thanks for bringing up some intriguing and pertinent issues, Duane.
This group is not necessarily focused on a bilingual hymnal per se,
but it seems to me that especially for Karen speakers in the USA who
are worshiping in or with English-language congregations, or
participating in associational or regional or national worship events,
such a hymnal as the Methodist-Presbyterian "Come, Let Us Worship"
http://www.amazon.com/Come-Let-Worship-Korean-English-Presbyterian/dp/0664502156
would be a good model to aim for if a bilingual edition is planned.
Ideally in such a hymnal the words in the two languages would be a
good (i.e. both singable and semantically faithful) translation of
each other. They would have the same meter, be set to the same tune,
and have the same number of stanzas. Perfection is not likely to be
attained in these regards, but at least we cqn know what we're hoping
to achieve.

Leland aka Haruo

[Haruo]

It seems to me that ideally we would have an electronic hymnal in PDF
that would be our primary authority. This could include both Karen
hymns and bilingual hymns, and selected pages from it could be printed
off and bound (perhaps using a service like Lulu) into either kind of
hymnal, or others (e.g. it would be possible to have a booklet with
just bilingual Christmas songs, or just a psalter, or whatever).

The electronic hymnal would have indexes correlating the hymnal
material with existing English hymnals used by Baptist churches
(including especially the Baptist Hymnal 1991, Celebration Hymnal, New
National Baptist Hymnal, Celebrating Grace, and any others found to be
in use in churches hosting Karen groups) so worship planners could
choose materials compatible with both Karen and English hymnals.

And the hymnal contents could also be made available in PowerPoint
format for screen projection of lyrics or even of hymnal pages (the
Churches of Christ have such a system). This way users (and user
communities) would be minimally restricted by the contents of a
specific print hymnal.

The electronic hymnal would also have notes (a hymnal companion)
indicating among other things divergences of meaning between the Karen
and English versions. There is nothing wrong with singing slightly
different hymns simultaneously in two languages; different tunes may
also be handled this way if they harmonize with each other, though in
most cases it's probably better if both language groups are singing
the same tune. But these things should not be done without planning.

One of the high points of my worship life is the bilingual (Japanese-
English) communion service held every even-numbered month at Seattle's
Japanese Baptist Church. The sermon is typically delivered in English
by Dr. Aita, with simultaneous earphone-mediated translation into
Japanese by Rev. Sakiyama. Hymns, prayers and scripture readings are
generally fully bilingual or else switch off. Praise songs are
projected bilingually (with beautiful graphics) on the screen. But
occasionally there's a moment of embarrassment when the program
specifies a particular hymn and the English hymnal gives four verses
but the Japanese only three or vice versa, or even once or twice a
hymn is called for that is set to one tune in one language and another
in the other. JBC does a great job of minimizing such occurrences, but
they still crop up now and then, and a bilingual hymnal such as the
Korean one, or such as the electronic Karen one I'm envisioning, can
reduce such problems still further and greatly reduce the difficulty
of planning such a service.

Leland aka Haruo

[Haruo]

On the subject of divergent traditions regarding text and tune
pairings, it occurs to me to wonder whether, in some cases, particular
tunes may be attractive or unattractive with particular texts in Sgaw
Karen because of the tones of the syllables as they mesh or clash with
the contours of the notes. Might, for example, a tune that has an
upward slur for one syllable be accepted if the text proposed a rising
tone for that syllable but rejected if the text required a falling
tone, leading to the adoption of a tune that "fit the requirements"? I
don't know, I'm just wondering. Experts?

[Haruo]

Duane wrote, "In a bilingual hymnal, would the English words try to

match the Karen or would they stay true to the original lyrics. If
they stay true to the original lyrics, then in some cases, the Karen
singers and English singers might be singing slightly different things
but I'm not sure if that is an issue."

It seems to me no hard and fast rule should be laid down. While it is
good for a hymn translated from another language to be a good
translation, it seems to me that a strong case (with biblical
support!) can be made for saying it's more important that it be a good
hymn. A verbatim translation that cannot be sung is not a good
translation when the text is to be sung. A translation of a fervently
vibrant hymn text that is lexically faithful but wooden and unfeeling
is not to be preferred over a text that carries the fervency and
vibrancy but uses different images for its wordings. As to whether the
English ought to attempt to approximate the Karen or vice versa, it
seems to me it would be a good idea to have some of each if we can.
And as far as "singing slightly different things" I don't think it's a
problem, though what "slightly" means might make me change my mind.

In my blogs on individual hymns, "how faithful is it" is one of my
recurring questions, but I'm not trying to suggest that the answer
will decide whether a particular hymn is used or not.

I'm particularly interested in seeing if we can include more of the
indigenous music and indigenous hymn-texts than the 1963 hymnal did;
well, actually, I'm sure we can beat it, because the 1963 hymnal has
almost no indigenous music (I'd say no more than four or five tunes)
and the Karen-original hymn texts look to be very much rolled out and
cut to Western patterns; most of them, for that matter, were written
by anglophone missionaries. But like so many other aspects of this
project, real progress in this area will depend upon interesting Karen
hymn-lovers in the project, and encouraging them to dig in and help.

[KenJ]

I am certainly no expert but it makes sense to me...logically.  :)


KenJ

[Ros’ Haruo]

In English, where word stress is very significant, something similar can be observed if you try to sing a text made up of iambs to a tune that is the right number of syllables but made up of trochees. In other words, singing (or trying to sing)

dit-DAH dit-DAH dit-DAH dit-DAH (iambs)

to a tune that goes

DAH-dit DAH-dit DAH-dit DAH-dit (trochees)

—it's not that it "just won't work", but it won't "feel quite right", and when an iambic tune is proposed you'll say "that's MUCH better!"

Haruo