Debates in Brussels on translation, the ‘language of Europe’

Agerpres correspondent Petronela Gruev reports: Sixteen known translators, writers and editors and literary critics from various European countries participated, on Thursday, in Brussels, at the invitation of President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Durao Barroso and of commissioner for multilingualism Leonard Orban, in a lunch-debate on issues related to translation and culture.

Among the guests, there were, from Romania, literary critic Nicolae Manolescu and film director Radu Mihaileanu, who is also one of the 15 ambassadors of the Year of Inter-cultural Dialogue 2008.

The talks of the two officials of the European Union and of their guests were focused, mainly, on issues such as translation – key of the dialogue among cultures, the intellectual connection between languages of big countries and languages of small countries, or translation in all its forms and with all those participating in it.

‘Translation is often seen as a compensation of the lack of linguistic abilities. But we tend to forget that it also is a key instrument aimed at encouraging the study of languages. The more a reader is exposed to a culture, the more he or she develops an interest in the study of that language. A good literary translation can kindle the fire of curiosity, which rapidly changes into the flame of a lifetime passion for a certain language or culture,’ said Orban.

‘I believe that translation is one of the expressions of multilingualism, ‘ added Orban. ‘A society is multi-lingual not only when its citizens can speak several languages, but also when its languages keep constant communication through translation. Translation is, indeed, a continuous negotiation between the author, the translator and the reader. In Europe, we know that very well, because negotiation is the very essence of the fact that we are together.’

This lunch-debate is a fist step of an initiative in two stages, which will be completed in April 2009, in a more extended conference on literary translation. The target in view is the extension of the role of literary translation, in particular, of translation, in general.

As Umberto Eco used to say, ‘Translation is the language of Europe. Literary translation is a topic preoccupating both for writers and editors, and for critics, it plays a role also in other branches of culture, in cinematography and music, for example. Translation is important also in learning foreign languages, in the integration of migrant workers, in keeping the identity, in promoting alphabetization, in the competence to use the mother tongue, in the new technologies.

The European Union supports, in a community programme on ‘Culture’ (2007-2013), literary translation from a European language to another European language, with the aim to improve the knowledge of literature, of the literary heritage of the European countries, to contribute in this way to an improvement in the multilingualism policies, to the extension of the intercultural dialogue.

Among eligible candidates there are private publishing houses or publishing groups intended to publish a work of fiction (novels, stories, theater plays, poetry or cartoons).

Several thousand of books have already been translated with funding from previous community programmes in the field of literary translations, notably Culture 2000, and the action continues under a new programme, Culture (2007-2013). Editors publishing in languages not known by many people have been very active in the use of this action every year. AGERPRES