afew days ago, a seminar was held at the national library on the subject of ‘international day of translation’. the participants included abtahal al-khatib, professor tarek fakhruddin and a third lecturer whose name i cannot remember. i could not attend the symposium for health reasons. abtahal in her paper said that the translation is not of less literary value a measure of authorship if not increased, especially for the arab reader. the translation needs the same degree of creativity, linguistic ability and artistic ability to produce it, and even increases its demand to master the target and the subject language and master the cultural knowledge of the community of this language. therefore, a real translator cannot be racist, extreme, narrow-minded or hard-hearted. the openness to another civilization and culture requires a broadening of horizons, a patient and a liberal mind. honest translation requires moral internal control; beautiful expression and fresh formulation requires a humble spirit and an open heart. the passion and longing for the beautiful word and expression adorned without exaggeration. “the translation does not only open a door for the text to the world, but also makes the translator a better person, and perhaps that is what we need, a door that opens up to the world and a person who becomes better,” says abtahal. as for tariq, in his paper he gave examples of his experiences in the field of interpretation and translation, from funny stories to embarrassing situations, and the third are vital, i have the text of his speech to those who wish to see it. he says in his paper that the translator has a great responsibility, in terms of accuracy and honesty because it deals with the interests of the people and sometimes their destinys, especially with the absence of official control and accountability, and the low level of market translators and the absence of regulations governing their work and holding them accountable. the translation market in kuwait is full of translation offices. the licence is given to some people but the office is run by others, others who are not proficient in their work and do not realize the seriousness of what they do because they don’t bear any responsibility. the weak translation may cause losses to others. therefore, there is an urgent need for a law that regulates the profession of translation, as is the case with other advanced countries of the world. we can easily use the law applied in the uae, instead of the current situation where the status of the applicant for translation license is similar to the applicants for licences of any business, especially after the ministry of information cancelled the requirement that the applicant for a translation license must obtain a specialized university degree in a foreign language. as for the accreditation of the translator by the ministry of justice, the translation office provides the ministry with some routine documents and a university degree for the interpreter proving his or her specialization in a foreign language. there is no test and there is no monitoring of the job of a translator. until the law is issued — in case if it is issued — and the establishment of the reference body, tariq proposes that the ministries of information and justice take a series of measures to stop the severe manipulation and chaos in the practice of this dangerous profession through quick administrative decisions. at the end of his lecture, he related a story about the misfortune that translation might bring about. he said that at the end of the second world war, the allies offered japan unconditional surrender. the japanese responded in a single word, mukatsu! it means, among other meanings, “we will study it,” but the allied interpreter adopted his translation of the word on a single meaning, which is “we reject it.” the result was that america threw two atomic bombs on the cities of hiroshima and nagasaki, killing more than 250,000 japanese. we do not yet have any evidence that this has caused any kind of concern for the translator.

email: