Sulla multifunzionalità del tradurre in copto: note sparse su frammenti copti tardoantichi, Cicerone e moderne ipotesi di ricerca

The article offers a discussion of the function of translations from Greek into Coptic. The author's aim is to show that in ancient societies the function of translations varies according to the kind of communiction each translation is meant to serve to. For the Coptic textual corpus it is impossible to define one unique motivation for translations. Some of them responded to the needs of those who ignored Greek language, or were psycologically distant from it because it was perceived as the language of the dominators (Greek and Roman), others served the needs of those learned Christians for whom translation was an activity done with the aim to improve both the control of the Greek language and the capacity of creating a new Coptic style. The author adds that the literalism of a translation can be interpreted into two different ways: either as a chioce of a particular style of translation, or as a form of respect to the text (perceived as a kind of sacred Scripture), which cannot be altered at the risk of becoming incomprehensible.