Felicity Jensz has published an open-access article in the Journal of Commonwealth and Imperial History on bible translation in late-nineteenth century German East Africa. The archival work of this paper was undertaken in the Unitätsarchiv in Herrnhut, Germany, as well as the Archives of the British & Foreign Bible Society at Cambridge University Library, a GloBil project partner.
This article examines the context and process of bible translations from German East Africa at the tail end of German colonial rule in the early twentieth century. It is informed by an attention to global and transnational entanglements that are evident within the process of bible translations and publications. Translation is always a process of negotiation and compromise, and through examining the processes behind the translation and publication of the Bible into Kinyiha and Kinyamwezi a number of imperial as well as religious tensions become evident. The publication of the Kinyamwezi translation was undertaken quickly in order fend off Catholic and Islam threats to the Protestant efforts of conversion. As with the Kinyamwezi translation, the Kinyiha translation contributed to the field of colonial linguists, which itself underscored broader German colonial governments imperial agendas.
The named translator of the Nyiha New Testament (as it was called), was a Moravian missionary by the name of Traugott Bachmann. The article demonstrates that through focusing on the historical setting of, and contributors to, colonial bible translations new insights into the political, cultural, religious, and economic tensions across imperial borders are gained. Although seldom mentioned in official reports, indigenous translators, women and even children, were of immense importance to the ‘reduction’ and ‘conquering’ of ‘unmastered languages’ beyond the work of colonial and missionary linguists, and thereby also contributed to the imperial reach of European empires. In this article through extensive archival research a number of indigenous translators were able to be identified and named. This article contributes to the broader aims of the GloBil project to decolonise the archives of missionary and bible societies and to highlight the contributes of local people to the broader colonial project of bible translations.
Link to open access journal: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03086534.2025.2508271#abstract