During the virtual symposium held on the occasion of the International Translation Day, Jordanian translator Dr. Bassem Al Zoubi said that translation serves as an important gateway through which nations and peoples meet one another, leading them to better understand their fellow human, and indirectly better understand themselves.
Dr. Al Zoubi said that literary translation shares the difficulties of general translation in the Arab world, notably among them is the limited number of professional translators translating from global languages, with English and French being a relative exception. He added that the general public has little awareness of the importance of translation and its role in disseminating and transferring knowledge, as well as fostering cultural exchange.
He continued that a translator’s lack of proficiency in the source and target languages can lead to unfaithful translations that may harm the reader culturally and intellectually, adding that translators must have a good understanding of
the author’s milieu on all levels, be it natural, cultural, social, or political, in addition to being well-versed in the historical period in which the literary work was produced. Dr. Al Zoubi explained that literary translation cannot be literal, thus, requiring the translator to posse extensive knowledge of thought, culture, politics, history, sociology, and psychology.
For her part, Kuwaiti translator Dalal Nasrallah touched on metaphors in the context of literary translation, explaining that literary translation requires linguistic mastery of both the source and target languages, as well as extensive knowledge of idiomatic usages in both languages.
She added that literary translation differs from other types of translation because it aims to achieve aesthetic goals that require possessing a broad imagination, precise wording, and the ability to manipulate language with its varying syntactic structures, while making the reader feel they are facing an original text rather than a translation.
Nasrallah n
amed some essential skills specific to literary translators, including having a command of writing skills, a deep knowledge of both peoples and their cultures, the ability to articulate and express ideas accurately, a love for literature, the capacity to embody the writer’s persona to capture their thinking, and extensive familiarity with idiomatic usages and the ability to deconstruct the original discourse and convey it effectively.
In turn, Syrian translator residing in Paris, Reem Al Sayed spoke about translating poetry in light of advancements in technology and artificial intelligence. She noted that translating Arabic poetry represents a unique challenge due to the characteristics inherent in poetry.
Al Sayed said that understanding the culture and the context of a given text is among the most prominent challenges faced by translators, with Arabic poetry being deeply rooted in Arab culture and historical references, thus, requiring translators to be well-versed to be able to provide an accurate transl
ation. She added that translators might need to offer additional explanations or footnotes to clarify these references for non-Arabic-speaking readers.
Al Sayed added that challenges also include rhetoric, with Arabic poetry being full of rhetorical elements such as imagery, similes, metaphors, and alliteration, which contribute to the text’s aesthetic, however, may lose some of their expressive power when translated, as words in Arabic carry multiple and varied meanings, often laden with emotions and connotations different from those in foreign languages, making it difficult to convey these meanings accurately without losing the poetic essence. She emphasized that translation requires effective rephrasing to convey linguistic beauty in a way that preserves its impact, which cannot be achieved artificially without a skilled translator who has a sufficient vocabulary to translate the text faithfully into other languages.
Source: Qatar News Agency