Saudi Arabia: Plea to Have Pan-Arab Translation Center

Tuesday, 06 March 2007

RIYADH : Saudi academics welcomed the King Abdullah International Prize for Translation but insisted a pan-Arab translation center named after the King should be established to complement the prestigious prize.

Faisal Al-Moammar, advisor at the Royal Court and director general of the King Abdulaziz Library in Riyadh, announced the creation of the King Abdullah International Prize for Translation, the first such award in the Arab world, while addressing a press conference here Saturday.

The distribution of prizes will start from December and each prize category carries a cash reward of SR500,000. The five different categories to be awarded include best translation work by individuals from Arabic into other languages in the field of humanities and best work translated from other languages into Arabic in the same field. Best work translated from Arabic into other languages and vice versa in the sciences, as well as the best institution for translation, make up the rest.

Dr. Ahmed Al-Banyan, associate professor of linguistics at the College of Languages and Translation in Riyadh's Imam Saudi University, said the King Abdullah International Prize for Translation will encourage aspiring translators to enter the field. The initiative will also promote good quality translation in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries.

The linguistics expert, who is also the head of the Saudi Association of Languages and Translation, insisted, however, that the field of translation lacks proper monitoring in Saudi Arabia. Lax regulations have made it possible to produce duplications and push archaic translated works in the Saudi market.

According to Dr. Al-Banyan, that's why there's an urgent need for setting up an international translation center which has a mandate to monitor and qualify translated works.

He added the number of translations produced in different fields is abundant but there is still a need to translate current topics, particularly in the field of science.

"Some translators use scientific books dating back 20 to 50 years, which have no relevance in today's life since science is advancing and there are new developments reported every day," Dr. Al-Banyan noted.

Similarly, unscrupulous translators violate copyrights in a remarkable manner, when they start working without permission from the authors of the books they are translating, he said. The breach also leads to duplication in translated works.

Dr. Hamza Al-Mizayni, professor of Linguistics and Phonetics at King Saud University and an author and translator of a number of academic books, said the announcement of the King Abdullah International Prize for Translation is "excellent news" for him. However, he believes such an initiative should have taken place a long time ago. He said the King Abdullah International Prize for Translation will not only create a healthy environment but also give translation events a push.

"We know the significance of translation in history," Dr. Mizayni said. "Translations are a renaissance of different cultures, including Arab and Western."

Echoing remarks similar to Dr. Banyan's, Dr. Mizayni called for the need to establish a Pan-Arab center for translation, which will be aimed at bringing scattered works of translation together.

The proposed center could also help unify basic translation terminologies used in the fields of natural and social sciences, he said.

"In the absence of appropriate and unified translation terminologies in medical and social sciences, translations are causing confusion to translators and readers," Dr. Mizayni said.

The King Abdullah International Prize will definitely raise the quality of translations, particularly in natural sciences, Dr. Mahmoud Ismail Saleh, professor of Applied Linguistics, said.

"However, such a prize should be complemented with a Pan-Arab center for translation based in the Kingdom," he added.

A Pan-Arab translation center will offer a boost to different aspects of translation, including focus, a unified house style for translation terminologies, and less duplication in translated works, Dr. Saleh said.

The linguistics professor said unfortunately, most of the translated works focus on humanities, while important subjects like science are ignored.

Regretfully, higher education in most of the Arab world is pursued in other languages, Dr. Saleh said. As a result, professors and book publishers discourage translations into Arabic.

"There should be a political will to reform and encourage higher education in Arabic," Dr. Saleh said. "Isn't it unfortunate that sciences are being taught in foreign languages in Arab universities?"

Dr. Saleh said Syria is the only Arab country where universities are teaching medicine in Arabic and producing quality doctors. He said there is an urgent need for sciences to be taught in Arabic to enable professors to impart higher education in the language.

"This can only be done if there is a political decision taken by different regimes in the Arab world," he said.

By Mohamed Al-Ghamdi And Shahid Ali Khan