Abdolhossein Azarang [Writer and researcher; Member of the Great Islamic Encyclopedia]
The questions I am trying to inform you of their answers are as follows:
– Since when has editing been used in Iran?
– hadn’t Iranians been familiar with the editing technique and art and learned it from others?
– Is the statement that “Iranians were not familiar with editing until relatively recent years”, which has been repeated in various ways here and there, a true claim?
– Is it true that “Iranian society has acquainted with editing, or new editing through the contrastive analysis of translations in several publishing institutes since 1950”?
– Talking about “new editing”, is there a specific time for the “old editing” so that the time interval between the two and the difference between them can be understood?
There is no ancient civilization in the world that has no history of editing, although the civilizations do not have the same share in developing the theory of editing or its topics. Iran is one of the oldest civilizations in the world and some samples of editing can be found in the history of Iranian civilization.
In many Persian writings, it has been stated that new edition, and sometimes even, in general, editing has started since 1950s. This claim is incorrect. A new approach to editing translation started during this decade; This is a historical fact, but editing in its broadest sense and not based on the common non-technical notion that confines editing to spelling and writing corrections, and especially on the basis of a comprehensive and precise definition of editing, has a long history in Iranian civilization that will be mentioned. This point should also be considered that definitions can change dates and histories. With a change of definition of any activity, the date of the activity inevitably changes as a result.
Editing in its broadest sense refers to the set of operations performed on a message – any kind of message – to be transmitted from sender to receiver in the most appropriate way, either in an acceptable way, or in a way that has been agreed upon in advance. Even activities and operations that lead to a new message – a message that did not exist before – are other forms of editing. For example, a founder’s or publisher’s proposal to produce a work that has not yet been created and even its idea has not been formed in the creator’s mind is a kind of publishing editing. Editing in produced and created works, of course, as a metaphor, must do what a lens or eyeglass lens does: it must neither reduce nor increase the light, but perform the act of focal focus. Editing in this broad sense is based on several main variables, the most important of which are the four variables of subject, audience, application and media; surely, there are other variables involved in editing, such as the variables of time, place, situation, occasion, and other things, which will not be explained in detail here.
Let me give you a simple example. If I write the word “psychology” in the form of “psycho logy” for the journal you are the editor of, you will separate the component of “psycho” from the “logy”. But if the same text is to be read on the radio, does separating the two components interfere with the transmission of the message? Therefore, the media variable can affect editing and its type and process. The other variables also affect editing and its type in their own place. Considering all the effective variables is one of the main necessities of editing and strategic thinking about it. At the same time, these variables show us what effect they have had on editing and how it has evolved over the centuries.
The oldest written record of translation editing in Iran can be seen in the Behistun Inscription dated 519 BC, in 3 languages: Ancient Persian, Elamite and Babylonian, in 14 columns on one of the stone walls of Mount Behistun, near Kermanshah city, in western Iran. The text of this inscription was first written in Elamite, which was the official language of the time, then the Elamite text was translated into ancient Persian and Babylonian, and these translations were rendered by those who were fluent in the source and target languages. Then the translations were engraved on the right, left and bottom of the stone carving of Darius Shah and the rebellious captives on the stone wall. The way the Behistun inscriptions were placed and arranged on stone was so skillful that as if the inscription editor like an architect or orchestral leader were supervising the arrangement of the inscription columns and their aesthetic proportion to the inscription. The inscription and the aesthetic appropriateness of their recognition of the supervising role. The inscription was translated into several other common languages in the Achaemenid Empire, and the exact text of Darius Shah’s message was sent to different parts of the empire to inform the rulers and officials, and perhaps others.
Another noteworthy record is Avesta, a collection of ancient religious texts from various times that were codified and written in the Achaemenid era, but were either scattered during the invasion of the foreign army, or parts of it were destroyed. During the Parthian period, some pieces of Avesta that had been preserved and also oral narrations were collected and written, which is itself one of the best examples of mastery in collecting and compiling resources, which is considered as one of the main branches of editing. The compilation of Avesta, in order to reach a definitive and last version, continued in the 3rd century AD during the Sassanid era. According to the narrations, they followed every sign and trace they came across in a very precise and systematic way in order to reach the full text of Avesta. Then, what was found and collected was examined based on the criteria they had at that time regarding the precision and accuracy of the text, and in the 6th century, the final text was translated into Middle Persian. In the translation process, according to the time criteria, the maximum possible and necessary accuracy in editing translation was ensured.
Another example from the pre-Islamic era is Kalilah and Demneh, whose stories were selected and translated from various sources. In its translation, adaptation two elements of audience and application were considered. In the Sassanid era, this text was translated from Hindi to Middle Persian.
The Middle Persian translation was rendered into Syriac, then from Syriac into Arabic, and finally, after Islam, from Arabic into Persian. This translation is not only a brilliant example of translation, but editing changes were also made to adapt the text to the cultural environment of the target language. Thus, it is clear that in those times, the method we now call “editing” was well known, although they did not have a naming system, nor did they establish or perpetuate a tradition in this field. [To be continue…]
