“Kościół salowy” po angielsku. Wybrane aspekty językowych uwarunkowań badań nad dziedzictwem kulturowym
ie Saalkirche in English? Linguistic Challenges of Multilingual Research into Cultural Heritage

Summary/Abstract: Today’s internationalisation of scholarship necessitates its publication in English. This ever-more frequent requirement poses a particular challenge for many non-English art historians. The study of works of art typically starts with the description of the object under investigation. For a description to be accurate, a precise terminology is essential. Specialist terminology is normally created by the makers of particular types of objects, as well as international scholars conceptualising artistic phenomena, they do it in their working, usually native, languages. Multilingualism brings about particular conceptual challenges when developing domain-specific terminology and its translations into other languages. Additional challenges come forth when information is to be processed automatically. The complex relationship between particular material cultural heritage and its multilingual descriptions is discussed here, based on the terminology concerning the early modern Protestant church building as an expression of particular liturgical needs. Owing to the autonomy of national Protestant Churches, new arrangements of the church interior – in terms of its structure, fixtures and specific functions – were favoured, which the relevant naming and conceptualisation should reflect. The author focuses on some of the problems that arise when research findings are to be presented in a language other than the language(s) in which research was conducted.

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