Talent scout, agent, public relations specialist and cultural ambassador of the country. Here are some of the designations given to professionals who translate books abroad.

Within the framework of the 1st International Professional Program of the 19th Thessaloniki International Book Fair, three translators discussed the role of the translator in finding good books to translate, the limits and limitations of language, culture and religion in the “meeting” of literary works. with readers in the discussion “Translators as talent hunters”.

“The translator plays the role of an agent, at least in Romania and as far as Greek literature is concerned. For example, I don’t wait for offers from publishers, but I choose myself, firstly, because there is no demand, and secondly, because I want the books I translate to please me,” said Romanian language translator Claudio Sfirschi -Laudat, director of the EIP branch in Bucharest He also commented on the “constant struggle with publishers” to convince them that it is worth publishing Greek literature and emphasized that in his country “publishers are mainly interested in bestsellers and if you can prove that the book is worthy, has awards or good reviews, then only you can convince them.”

Arabic translator Khaled Raouf, partner at the EIP event in Alexandria, spoke of the three categories of translated books: “These are what the publisher offers the translator, so he translates them whether he likes them or not. Those that the translator chooses where he does it because he loves the book or is delighted with the author, as well as those that “should” be done, the so-called “important books”, since every translator must have a strategy for what he wants to donate,” he said. “My strategy is to give the Arab reader a panorama of contemporary Greek literature,” he said characteristically.

He also emphasized the advantage of translating into Arabic, because “when a book is translated, for example, in Egypt, the cultural center of the Middle East, it is read in 20 countries” and emphasized that “the translator carries out the revival of the ideas and culture of the country and the author in a new language” .

“The role of a translator is to discover some works, some creators and some writers who may be completely unknown to the country, but their work deserves to be known,” said the translator of Greek literature into Georgian by Anina Gogokhia, quoting herself. for example, she left unfinished a very large Greek classic she was translating because she “discovered” a book by a contemporary Greek author that impressed her so much that she gave it priority.

The moderator asked the panelists whether translation could be “immoral”. In response, Mrs. Gogokhia quoted Oscar Wilde. As he said, “there are no immoral or moral books.” Books are either well written or badly written. I think the same applies to translation, it may or may not be good.”

For his part, the Romanian translator said that “yes, we are unethical, because by translating the text from one language to another, we “give it out”. The text cannot be the same, because it passes through the filter of our personality, through the filter of our knowledge and the filter of our interpretation.”

Mr. Rauf disagreed with this sentiment, stating that “an interpreter is unethical only when it is inappropriate. But when he respects the author, he cannot be immoral,” he said characteristically, but acknowledged the great responsibility that, of course, lies with the translator.

Finally, reference was made to GreekLit, a translation program that has been running for the past year and a half at the Hellenic Cultural Foundation, and the speakers note the important contribution of such programs to improving coordination.

“Such programs, especially in Georgia, play a very important role and enliven translation work. For us, translators, this is a very powerful assistant, and in general, this is what helps to promote Greek literature in any country,” said Ms. Gogokhia. The usefulness of these tools was pointed out, in particular, by both Mr. Raouf and Mr. Lodat.

Source: RES-IPE