From the ever erudite Brant Gardner comes this watershed article on the question of the translation process that Joseph Smith used in translating the Book of Mormon. A MUST read!
http://www.fairlds.org/FAIR_Conferences/2009_Joseph_the_Seer.html
Friday, August 21, 2009
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This is a great article and explanation. It also sheds light on the adaptive vocabulary used in the Popol Vuh and the Title of the Lords of Totonicapan. The "pagans" who transmitted their oral and written Quiché traditions to the Catholic Conquistadores were mapping their "Little Tradition" stories to the narrative of the "Great Tradition". And, not always to score points with their new overlords.
ReplyDeleteWhen you experience the Quiché culture, you find that in many cases, this adaptive language is meant as a subtle barb directed at the Conquistadores, as if to say, "You may think your traditions and our traditions have nothing in common, or that yours are somehow superior because of our supposed ignorance and poverty. Yet there are things in our stories that are too similar to yours to be considered mere coincidence...care to explain that?"