A Meeting on “Pathology of Interlingua Translation” was held

1395/12/22-16:06

A Meeting on “Pathology of Interlingua Translation” from the series of events sideline to Italy’s participation in the 30th Tehran International Book Fair as the guest of honor was held on Wednesday, Mar 1, 2017 in the conference hall of Iran’s Cultural Fairs Institute.

The meeting was attended by Hossein Ramazan Kiaei, Iman Mansoob Bassiri, Fatemeh Asgari, and Mehrzad Sheikholeslami.

Hossein Ramazan Kiaei was the first to give a lecture on the contradictions due to a translation. He said, “Translators, like other people, have different viewpoints. There is no doubt that these viewpoints are unintentionally introduced into their works. This in turn results in contradictions in the audiences. To address the pathology of translation, first we must know what translation is and give a definition of that.”

In explaining the concept of translation, this assistant professor of Italian language in Tehran University said, “There are different definitions for translation; for example, in some books we read that translation is a link between two different cultures. If we accept these different definitions, we have to admit that translation enters different realms.”

Regarding the challenges in translation he said, “Translation of religious and ideological texts is faced with most challenges as when such texts are translated, one cannot expect that the whole idea is transferred correctly.”

In the meeting, Iman Mansoob Bassiri pointed out to the translation of works from Persian to Italian. He said, “… for example, in translation of Hafiz sonnets, the translators have many problems. Unfortunately, some translators felt free to say whatever the liked.” He added, “Some translators use words in their translation which are totally irrelevant of the words in the main text. This can confuse the audience.”

In this meeting, Mehrzad Sheikholeslami talked about the Divine Comedy. Sheikholeslami said, “Regarding the Divine Comedy by Dante, I must say that it is a complicated work and the audience is faced with a text full of literary, historical, philosophical, and allegorical bearings. In translation of this book, the translator has changed its form from poem to prose. The translator I am talking about is Shojaedin Shafa who translated the Divine Comedy into Persian in 1968.”

In the end of the meeting, Fatemeh Asgari addressed the renowned Italian fiction, Pinocchio. She said, “As my friends addressed important topics, I prefer to talk about the first translation of Pinocchio by the Iranian modernist writer, Sadeq Chubak.” She examined the translation from children’s educational point of view.