Beyond

From the Editors

Welcome to the newest issue of Ancient Exchanges! As we return from a brief hiatus and website migration, we are looking both forward and back; forward into the new iteration of the journal, and backward to our previously published issues. Translators of ancient texts will know this dual perspective well. In this spirit, we included a selection of previously published works along with the new submissions. As we move forward with our brave new format, you might notice some old friends cropping up amongst the new. We hope that this provides you, our readers, with a fresh perspective on these prior works and another dimension through which to view our material, a roadmap of where we have been, so we can go where no one has gone before—beyond! Translations are always evolving in meaning to provide infinite diversity in infinite combinations. As readers and translators of ancient works, we know how the past and present fold into one another–how meaning transforms as it projects into the future, permutating infinitely. 

Future issues will continue to feature “In the Classroom,” a pedagogy essay, showcasing our commitment to pedagogical approaches to translation as part of our ongoing mission. As translators, we work to move beyond the text–to explore an element that may otherwise be lost to us, be that the sound, the form, or the meaning. Even as we work towards that goal, we all know that, like it or not, something else will inevitably be lost in translation. Pedagogy is one way we can hope to bridge that loss–teaching the art of translation, teaching a wide variety of translations, the theory, the goals, the critiques–these are the paths that lead us, and future translators, to the beyond we can only just glimpse ourselves.

This issue introduces our new podcast–Translator’s Note. Our first episode is with Mani Rao, a poet and translator from Sanskrit featured in this issue. Check out our conversation about her translation of the Kaṭhopaniṣad, in which a young boy gets to ask the god of death some big questions from the great beyond. And keep an eye out for monthly episodes where we feature translators from issues past and current, as well as conversations about the process of our editorial team. We are excited to share with you our new format and our ongoing journey. 

ad infinitum,

The Ancient Exchanges Team

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