The first Saudi Translation Forum concluded its works this week in the capital, Riyadh, raising the issue of "The Role of Translation in Bringing Cultures together" during an era defined by the ease and speed with which people communicate with one another. A great number of academics and experts in translation from different countries along with their Saudi counterparts took part in the two days Forum, which was hosted by the Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission. Saudi and foreign translation experts agreed that translation plays a very important role in bridging cultures together in the past, at present and in the future. The United Nations affirmed that the work of language professionals plays an important role in bringing nations together, facilitating dialogue, understanding and cooperation, contributing to development and strengthening world peace and security. According to Dr. Mohammed Albarakati, Associate Professor of Translation and Comparative Linguistics in King Abdulaziz University and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Translation Association, translation is the soft power that can make people understand each other. Dr. Albarakati stressed that translation is our best option towards achieving the goal of bringing different cultures of the world together, as it is the power that can sweep into our communities. "We should try to imagine what the world will be like without translation. We could also stop talking and understanding each other, which would surely lead to conflict and misunderstanding. I think translation is similar to the idea of welcoming a gust into your own home. You open your gate and try to understand that person and set aside your prejudice and be open and friendly. In that way, translation can bring friendship, greater democracy and understanding of nations," said Prof. Nike Kocijancic Pokorn, Professor of Translation Studies in the University of Ljubljana. By definition, translation is to transfer from one language or culture to another. Therefore, translation is considered a powerful tool to shorten the distance between peoples and cultures. Prof. Martha Lucia Pulido Correa, Associate Professor and University of Antioquia Visiting Professor Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil, and Dr. Kristijan Nikolic, Lecturer and Researcher at University of Zagreb, Croatia, agreed that translation is even more important than it used to be because of the amount of information we are exposed to. Prof. Abdulrahman Alswliaman, Associate Professor in KU Leuven, highlighted the first time in history when translations started. According to Prof. Alswliaman, it started in ancient Iraq when the Babylonian people came from the Arabian Peninsula and conquered Iraq took power from the Sumerian Semitic people. He added: "the Sumerian developed the Cuneiform scripts and the Babylonian came and mastered the language of the Sumerian to translate the literature of the Sumerian and the difficult words related to the Cuneiform scripts. This was the first contact in history between two languages; the Babylonian and the Sumerian. It is also considered the first translation in history. So, from that time until today, nothing has changed, the translation is needed. The only change is that we have many languages today. "Although we have many people speaking different languages, we still need translation. Hollywood's productions are more translated to Arabic audiences as well as Colombian soap operas. All these cultures are brought to us through translation. Even in the United Nations, they still have five official languages and one of them is the Arabic language. Translation will stay and will forever be the bridge between cultures; no one can take off this role from translation," said Nawwaf Albeedani, Researcher of languages and Translator. As for the type of translation or text that contributes to bringing cultures together, Associate Professor of Linguistics and Translation in Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University Abdelhamid Elewa said that cultural translation comes first since culture is something interesting for everybody. "People around the world are more interested in our cultural and religious products. We got many cultural texts that are not translated into English. We do not translate into English unfortunately. Here all efforts are focused on translating from English into Arabic. We must translate from Arabic into English to let them know about our culture," he affirmed. Dr. Asma Alqunayir, Translation Studies Assistance Professor in Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, and Joseph Dichy, Professor of Arabic Linguistics in Lumière University Lyon 2, shared the opinion that all types of translation are important for the process of bringing cultures together. "Saudi films and media production, the current ones that represent the Saudi culture in the right way, are most needed to be translated. We need our voices to be heard in our way," said the Assistant Professor at the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature, King Abdulaziz University, Abrar Mujaddidi. "I think that the role of translators is still fundamental. Because even though people do communicate now with all the new technology, there is a lot of miscommunication. You have seen Google Translate or some of the automatic translators; they do not do the perfectionist work that the translators do. In addition, I think we have seen this with academics as well. People translating rapidly overnight so that all the scientists could have all the information. It is still fundamental", stressed Prof. Catherine Way, Associate Professor of Translation in the University of Granada.
