Wed Jan 15 18:39:20 1997

From owner-tc-list  Wed Jan 15 18:39:20 1997
Return-Path: 
Received: by scholar.cc.emory.edu (SMI-8.6/SMI-SVR4)
	id SAA22637; Wed, 15 Jan 1997 18:38:51 -0500
X-Sender: waltzmn@popmail.skypoint.com
Message-Id: 
In-Reply-To: <9701152339.AA19613@iris.arcadis.be>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Date: Wed, 15 Jan 1997 17:37:23 -0700
To: tc-list@scholar.cc.emory.edu
From: "Robert B. Waltz" 
Subject: Re: Original Text
Sender: owner-tc-list@scholar.cc.emory.edu
Precedence: bulk
Reply-To: tc-list@scholar.cc.emory.edu
content-length: 1626

On Wed, 15 Jan 97, Jean VALENTIN  wrote:

>>If I may be so bold, I would be
>>interested in getting your personal thoughts on what the 'original text' is
>>(or 'texts' are).
>
>Hmmm... the "original text" is something between a concept and a chimera. 
>In fact, what we're dealing with is a _tradition_. Some people devote 
>their whole life to searching "the ideal woman", and, probably, when we 
>search naively for an "original text" we're doing just the same.
>
>In any case, if such a thing ever existed, it is lost and all our 
>reconstructions remain reconstructions. Personally, I find we're on more 
>solid ground when studying the development and diversity of the tradition 
>than when trying to reconstruct a remote original... I must avow my 
>perplexity when facing these questions.

I will concede that finding the *exact* original text is probably
beyond our abilities. I will also concede that the seeking is more
interesting than the finding (that is, I enjoy studying manuscripts
and text-types much more than reading the Greek Bible).

But are you saying that seeking the original text is pointless?
What, then, are people to do who simply want to read the Bible
(or any other classical text)?

I agree that there is a place for studying the tradition -- after
all, I am a folk musician. There is at least one song ("The Twa
Sisters," Child #10) where I sing *four* different versions (think of
it as reading the Bible in four different text-types). But surely
there is also a place for studying the best possible approximation
to the original text!

Bob Waltz
waltzmn@skypoint.com

Back