Translated Literature

Translated writings holds great value within the field of literature as it connects cultures and diverse communities by expanding the confined boundaries of ideas and knowledge in which one language holds. In reference to Amara Lakhous’s quote: “So many people consider their work a daily punishment. Whereas I love my work as a translator. Translation is a journey over a sea from one shore to the other. Sometimes I think of myself as a smuggler: I cross the frontier of language with my booty of words, ideas, images, and metaphors.”  This quote interprets that Amara figuratively travels great distances to reach huge milestones within his work, even if that requires him crossing regular limits of literature. His translation of texts goes beyond the direct and basic translation as he utilizes his treasurable tools of words, ideas, images, and metaphors as opposed to only words, which leads to the loss of meaning of the original text. When calling himself a smuggler, this analogy is effective as sea divides cultures and his figurative act of trespassing international borders and shores and violating laws and regulations allows him to get to the core translation of a text. This also implies that he is challenging authority, which causes his writing to be authentic. These significant themes form direct connections to Part 3 of the language and literature course as translated texts part take in the shift of the historical, cultural, and social contexts, in which is a benefit as this panoramic approach only connects cultures and provides a holistic view to global populations.

Moreover, in reference to the “Found In Translation” article by Claudia Pierpoint, the last line reads: “Whether any book will outlast its moment is impossible to say, but what follows is an account of some novels that are worth reading now, and that may prove to be worth reading even when newspapers divert our attention to wars and prisons somewhere else”.  This reference makes connection to the current presence of social media and news platform, in which present the Arab world through publicizing its negative circumstances such as war and devastation. Despite the presence of such conditions, behind these trapped doors lie the regular lives of the Arab nation. Therefore by means of translated novels, in which hold such hefty information, other populations around the world can be informed of this and become knowledgeable of the nature and lifestyle of the Arab nation within regular settings as opposed to only within war conditions. This a major benefit to translated literature.