Dummar Cultural Complex holds a symposium on the reality of translation and its prospects

Last Tuesday “Windows project” hosted Dr. Thaer Zain Al-Din, Director General of the Syrian Book Organization, and Professor Hussam Khaddour, Director of Translation with at Dummar Cultural Complex, as part of a symposium entitled “Translation, Reality and Horizons”

Dr. Zein Al-Din started the symposium by talking about the history of translation and its stages of development, stressing the importance of the role of translators in translating the most important international books and transferring knowledge and civilizations of other nations, which contributes to openness to the other world.

Zein Al-Din also referred to the national translation project that was previously established and formed specialized committees for the translation plan for this year, hoping for cooperation with the Writers Union, private publishing houses and others, so that this project will be the cornerstone of a new renaissance.

Zain Al-Din concluded his intervention by mentioning the number of books translated into and from the Arabic language. He  stressed the need to establish accurate statistics that show us the number of books that we have translated, and that the official authorities and publishing houses undertake the latest productions of the Arab and Western world and translate the most important and best books and market them well.

Professor Hussam Khaddour, Director of Translation, in an intervention stressed the importance of translation in our lives because it helps in the exchange of knowledge, literature and culture and creates a bridge of knowledge between peoples.

Khaddour added that translation in our country is divided into a group of works. Firstly, the editorial translation for the benefit of public and private publishing houses, and hundreds of Syrians participate in it in various languages, including English, French, Russian, Spanish and others.

Secondly, simultaneous translation that works for conferences, forums and meetings with foreign delegations and in various fields of media

In addition to them, there are workers in the Ministry of Tourism who work as tourist guides.

Thirdlly , the organizational structure. This structure is currently ineffective in Syria and needs efforts from various parties to organize the translation structure well.

Fourthly, financial resources the work of the translator varies and depends on the entity he deals with.

At the end of his intervention, Khaddour called for the establishment of a national center for translation in addition to a special union for translators to take care of this profession and the rights of its workers. He also stressed the need to standardize terms at least nationally to form a special committee in translating them and adopting them as a reference for translators.

Sanaa Hasan