Was the verb a god? – An analysis of John 1:1 according to the Relevance theory

Abstract

One of the great issues in translation theory concerns the level of inferencing allowed to the translator when trying to clarify to the reader of the target text the nuances, conflicts, disturbances and ambiguities that might be present in the source text. On the other hand, the translation critic is interested in identifying, after comparing the original text and the translated text, how much the first was altered, smoothed, explained, interpreted, etc. by the translator and, if possible, which motives lead to these interferences in the source text. The present work, using as illustration one of the most controversial extracts of the translation of the Bible’s New Testament (the first verse of the first chapter of St. John’s Gospel), tries to identify a field for the application of Sperber and Wilson’s Relevance theory, viewing it as a tool that can be used to aid both the translator and the translation critic.