Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding organized an online symposium on the occasion of the International Translation Day which is celebrated on Sept. 30 every year.
Five translators from different languages attended the symposium, presenting their visions on the role of translation as a civilizing act between nations, cultures and peoples.
Held under the title "Experiences in Translation", the symposium also discussed the reality of the translation movement based on their personal experiences in this field, and touched on the difficulties and challenges they face during their work.
Moderator of the symposium Dr. Imtenan Al Samadi said that Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding seeks to honor translators, encourage them, and recognize their efforts by appreciating them on both the material and moral levels. She outlined the process of the Award that the State of Qatar presents to the world, its philosophy, goals, objectives, categories, and the criteria for running for it and winning it.
Wafa Abu Hatab, Professor of Linguistics at Zarqa University in Jordan, spoke about the importance of translation for humanity, noting that it was the will of Allah Almighty to create different tongues and languages so people can learn and get to know each other, and translation is means for communication between nations.
She explained that translation is a cultural act in which the translator wanders between two different cultures to convey the meaning; pointing to the translator as an ambassador of culture between nations, and a mediator between two cultures.
She noted that translated literary works extend a bridge of understanding and familiarity between two cultures, shortening distances and cultural differences.
Prof. Abu Hatab pointed to the challenges faced by translators, including the absence of the original text's author, or finding the corresponding literary text that expresses the meaning and gives the same effect, because literature is the cultural "capsule" that contains nations' customs and vision of life, and is full of proverbs and expressions linked to one culture and not another. (MORE)
Source: Qatar News Agency