Mother Teresa - A Totalitarian Leader? Translating Religious Poetry

Abstract

The concept of totalitarianism can be approached from different perspectives. The idea that totalitarianism
can do good is not new, nor that a totalitarian leader can have a good influence. But can Mother Teresa be regarded as a totalitarian leader who dedicated her entire life helping others? In this case we do not speak about a totalitarian state but a totalitarian world as she persuaded those who have to help those who don’t as she put it when awarded the Nobel prize in 1979: “the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers and of all those who feel unwanted, unloved and uncared for throughout society” [1] (see the reference section at the end). The paper focuses on translating religious poetry, analyzing a poem attributed to Mother Teresa. The poem encompasses Mother Teresa tenets of life synthesizing her beliefs although she was not the author but due to her appreciation the poem became famous worldwide.