Mass antiphons and the dialectic of liturgical genre and translation

Translation is a key dimension of ongoing liturgical renewal and reform. In the 2010 English-language edition of the Roman Missal (title in italics), the translation process was guided by the Instruction Liturgiam Authenticam issued in 2001 by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Though often and justly criticized, the document’s principles are useful and insightful in terms of the preservation and transmission of the ancient antiphon tradition of the Latin Rite. This paper delineates these principles, introduces the complex and often overlooked antiphon tradition, and analyses several key antiphons of the Roman Missal to explicate the importance of understanding the liturgical-textual genre of antiphons, and indeed any other liturgical text, in the process of translating Latin texts into the vernacular. In the dialectic of genre and translation, genre must be an equal partner. If not, crucial aspects of the tradition are eclipsed in vernacular editions of liturgical books and local liturgical praxis.