Importance of translation cannot be underestimated

Sharjah, June 4, 2011-- The American University of Sharjah (AUS) held in the AUS Main Building recently a symposium on screen translation, bringing together prominent AUS speakers discussing the effects of subtitles and dubbing in films and television.

Organized by the Department of Arabic and Translation Studies (ATS) at the AUS College of Arts and Sciences, the symposium brought together successful individuals who were connected with the AUS Masters of Arts in English/Arabic/English Translation and Interpreting (MATI) Program. This was the second MATI Symposium, following the success of last year's.

The symposium was inaugurated by Dr. Mark Rush, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. "When cultures meet, translation--and the rule by which it is conducted and the art with which it is employed--is the only thing between understanding and, perhaps, discord.  Without translation, there is cacophony," said Dr. Rush.

"The importance of translation cannot be underestimated.  In some cases, the stakes may be quite low.  But, when we see, for example, great comedy in our own language that is poorly translated into another, it is clear just how important and elegant the task of the translator is.  The turn of a phrase or a play on words can lose all meaning if it is lost in translation," he added.

The daylong event consisted of three sessions, the first of which was chaired by Dr. Sattar Izwaini, Assistant Professor in Arabic and Translation Studies. The opening remarks and first presentation was delivered by Dr. Said Faiq, Professor in Arabic and Translation Studies and was entitled "Looking for Signatures in Subtitling."

The session also included "The Dubbing and Subtitling of Troy: A Comparative Study" by Najla Al Owais, MATI student and "Subtitling/Dubbing of Sensitive Expressions into Arabic" by Dr. Ahmed Ali, Assistant Professor in Arabic and Translation Studies.

The second session was chaired by MATI student, Ahmed Abu Saad and had presentations on "What is Said is Not What You Get: Register Shift in Subtitling" by Dr. Izwaini; "Cultural Representation in the Subtitling of Freej" by Nouf Alwan, a MATI graduate; and "The Dubbing of Timon and Pumbaa Cartoon into Egyptian Dialect" by MATI student, Budor Al Alami.

The last presentation of the symposium was "Subtitling of Yacoubian Building" by MATI student Dalia Noaman during the final session which was chaired by another MATI student Hayyan Al-Rosan.

-Ends-

Nazzal Yousuf Nazzal
Director of Media and Printing Department
Office of Public Affairs
Tel +971 6 515 2157
Fax +971 6 515 2288
American University of Sharjah
PO Box 26666, Sharjah
United Arab Emirates
http://www.aus.edu
nyousuf@aus.edu

© Press Release 2011