Kalima guest of honour at international translation conference in Tunis

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The conference, part of Tunisia's National Translation Year campaign for 2008 and organised by the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Technology, was attended by Dr. Ali bin Tamim, Director of Kalima, and a number of university professors and researchers from several countries to discuss the current state of translation and its development mechanisms.

The theme of 'Identity and Translation' was a key subject at the conference, as the year 2008 is considered 'National Year of Identity' in the UAE and was named 'National Year of Translation' in Tunisia.

The launch of a series of translations on the theme of identity and translation, coordinated between Kalima and National Translation Centre in Tunis, was announced at the conference.

The conference, which was attended by the Tunisian Minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Technology, and by the Director General of National Translation Centre in Tunis, studied a number of books set to be translated from English and French into Arabic.

Dr. Tamim gave a brief overview of Kalima and its future potential, with the support of Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, stressing the determination of ADACH to ensure the progress of such projects.

'We seek to celebrate Arab culture and the cultures of others. We aim to decorate our Arab and regional culture with touches of global beauty. We will work hard to have a better awareness of ourselves and to understand others without preconceptions,'

said Tamim.

'We hope that Kalima and the National Translation Centre in Tunis will benefit the local trends in the UAE and Tunisia in particular, and the Arab World in general. We have now agreed upon key principles of cooperation and we will discuss the book titles proposed for translation,' added Tamim.

Cooperation between Abu Dhabi's Kalima and the National Translation Centre in Tunis will bring together the experiences of Arabs in the Orient with their Maghreb Arab counterparts, noted Dr. Maher Tarmich, Head of the Department of Sociology at the University of Tunis.

The translation initiatives of Abu Dhabi and Tunis and their joint efforts are expected to have a positive effect in bridging the cultural divides, stressed Mohammed Juili, Professor of Sociology at the University of Tunis.

The conference, which will continue until Saturday, will focus on the following topics:

1 - Theories, epistemologies and instructions;
2 - Meanings and interpretations;
3 - Translators and translation contexts;
4 - Translation in Tunisia: memory and history;
5 - Translation in Tunisia: texts, practices and critical readings;
6 - Translation in Tunisia: texts and critical readings;
7 - Translation in Tunisia: potentials, problems and prospects.