Home 5 Articles and Reports 5 The recommendations of the ‘Translating from Arabic: A Bridge of Civilization Conference’

The recommendations of the ‘Translating from Arabic: A Bridge of Civilization Conference’

by | Feb 3, 2022 | Articles and Reports

By Saleh Elghazy

 

The Egyptian Ministry of Culture announced the final recommendations of the ‘Translation from Arabic: A Bridge of Civilization’ Conference, which was held as part of the professional program of the 53rd Cairo International Book Fair, in the presence of dozens of Egyptian, Arab and foreign publishers, translators, intellectuals, and representatives of the media.

Dr. Enas Abdel Dayem, Egyptian Minister of Culture gave the opening speech of the Conference, and keynote speeches were delivered by Ambassador Nabila Makram, Egyptian Minister of Immigration, Sheikha Bodour Al Qassimi, President of the International Publishers Association, Dr. Ali bin Tamim, President of the Abu Dhabi Center for the Arabic Language, and others.

The Conference included three workshops as follows:

The Arab Book in the Libraries of the World: Reality and Ambition

The workshop addressed the reality of the Arabic book in global libraries, and highlighted the challenges that impede the access of Arabic books to global libraries.

Arabic Translation Difficulties

The speakers stressed the need to support a group of orientalists, Arabists, and Arabic language learners to encourage them to translate Arabic knowledge and literature into world languages.

What do the foreign publishers want… and what should we propose?

Speakers discussed the issue of acquiring translation rights, as well as the problems facing translation from Arabic into Greek, given that Greece is the guest of honor for the current session of the Cairo International Book Fair. They also shed light on the issue of cultural differences and the need to raise awareness of the culture of the Arab region.

Conference recommendations

At the end of the Conference, the recommendations committee convened under chairmanship of Dr. Ahmed Bahey El-Din, Vice President of the Egyptian General Book Organization, and concluded with five recommendations as follows:

  1. Holding the conference on an annual basis under the auspices of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture.
  2. Adopting a national project for translation from Arabic by the Egyptian state, in order to support the publisher and translator to be a bridge for Egyptian culture and creativity abroad.
  3. Developing clear and specific policies for the translation-from-Arabic plan, combining the efforts of all parties concerned with the translation movement in Egypt.
  4. Inviting Arabic language departments and colleges in foreign universities, international publishing houses interested in translation from other languages, and foreign translators from Arabic, to attend the activities of the upcoming conference.
  5. Adopting a national project by Egypt’s Ministry of Culture, to prepare an annual list of various publications of governmental and private publishing houses, reflecting the true reality of culture and thought in Egypt.

Recent News

17Jul
Penguin Supports Winn Amid Controversy

Penguin Supports Winn Amid Controversy

Penguin said release date of On Winter Hill would be changed in order to ‘support the author’ after allegations that Raynor Winn lied in her bestselling memoir. Author Raynor Winn’s new book has been delayed because questions about her bestselling work The Salt Path have caused her and her husband “considerable distress”, her publisher has […]

17Jul
Farshore  Revives ‘Portly the Otter’

Farshore Revives ‘Portly the Otter’

HarperCollins’ children’s imprint Farshore has acquired The Adventures of Portly the Otter: Untold Tales from the Wind in the Willows by award-winning children’s author M. G. Leonard. The book of exciting spin-off stories from the much-loved classic The Wind in the Willows, written by Kenneth Grahame and illustrated by E.H. Shepard, will publish in March […]

16Jul
Firefinch to Debut in 2026 with Star Authors

Firefinch to Debut in 2026 with Star Authors

Publishing veteran Kate Parkin, who worked for Random House and was most recently MD of the adult publishing division at Bonnier Books UK, is launching a new independent publishing house, Firefinch.  It is a co-venture with her Bonnier colleague Margaret Stead who was Bonnier publisher. Among the authors who are making the jump with them […]

Related Posts

What Should We Read This Summer?

What Should We Read This Summer?

Nothing compares to a good book accompanying us through the long summer days, whether we’re sitting in the shade of a tree, stretched out by the sea, or stealing quiet moments at home away from life’s commotion. But the question readers often ask each year is: What...

From the Shadows to Leadership: Women in Publishing

From the Shadows to Leadership: Women in Publishing

For centuries, Brazilian literature was shaped by a male-dominated vision, reflected both in its narratives and its structures. Yet Brazilian women never stopped writing, even when pushed to the margins. Many wrote in the shadows, under pseudonyms or behind troubled...

Why Hesse Still Speaks to Us

Why Hesse Still Speaks to Us

On July 2, we mark the birth anniversary of the great German writer Hermann Hesse (1877–1962), one of the most influential literary voices of the 20th century and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1946. Hesse was renowned for works that delve into the...

Previous Next
Close
Test Caption
Test Description goes like this