Saint Theophan the Recluse and his Translation of the Octoechos: Theological Context and Translational Analysis

Abstract

This article is devoted to the theological analysis of the translation of St. Theophan the Recluse “Selected Penitential
Hymns from the Octoechos”. The article examines the biography of St. Theophan and his activities as a translator and publisher.

Special attention is paid to the methods and principles of translation used by the saint when working on the texts of the Octoechos. The syntactic, lexical and stylistic transformations introduced into the translation, as well as their impact on the perception and understanding of the text, are analyzed.

It is revealed that St. Theophan followed pragmatic goals, striving to make the texts more accessible and understandable to the modern reader, while maintaining the theological and spiritual depth of the original.

Examples of text transformations are considered and their justification is given, which makes it possible to understand the uniqueness of the saint's approach to the translation of liturgical texts.