Circulation, Ethnopoetics, and Bible translation

Charles Briggs (2013) suggests that a number of anthropologists and social scientists find the notions of circulation and mobility theoretically productive. In his article he applies these notions to "ethnopoetics", which is new to many bible translators, but in actual fact has been around for a while in American anthropology. He wants to argue that ethnopoetics still has something to offer theoretically and he wants to use circulation and mobility as ways to connect to more current dialogues in anthropology and social sciences. I think his argument applies significantly to Bible translation practices (written and oral) on the philosophical level.

He argues on (287-288) that:

(1)Typically anthropologists exhibit a "naïve neo-liberal Darwinism of social forms and objects including languages, narratives, and texts—the sense that people want them to move as far, as fast, and as freely, and as long as possible" (287). (He argues the same applies to Christian missionaries-Bible translators.)

(2) Mobility involves silencing and erasure of historical indexical indices associated with a cultural form (read text).

(3)Cultural forms travel on grooves and experience resistance along the way.

(4)People are sometimes more interested in stopping circulation than helping it circulate (and for good reason since this can be a way to protect yourself from domination).

(5)People (including me right now) contribute to producing models of circulation.

Briggs, Charles L. "Contested Mobilities: On the Politics and Ethnopoetics of Circulation." Journal of Folklore Research 50, no. 1 (2013): 285–99.