SHARJAH — The impact of translations on local culture, and the role of social media and other online platforms in disseminating information were discussed at an interesting panel discussion titled ‘World Literature Today’ on the first evening of the 37th Sharjah International Book Fair on Wednesday.
While two out of the three speakers on the panel, Dr Razan Mahmoud Ibrahim, professor of literature and modern criticism at the University of Petra, Jordan; and Naguib Al Oufi, critic, researcher and university professor in Morocco, were sceptical of modern technological interventions in the world of literature globally, the third panelist, Jennifer Brehl, executive editor and director of editorial development at William Morrow, a HarperCollins US imprint, the average uptake of reading in the US has increased drastically just because the book is available in several different formats.
Speaking about translations, Dr Ibrahim remarked, “Translation plays a big role in cultural export. For example, when we look at the theatre, we see that a lot of contributions come from the French and German.
Stressing the fact that accuracy and quality are crucial to translations and the popularity of any country’s literature around the world, she also said: “We can raise a question – how can we reach an international level? Do authors who do well locally translate that success internationally? My answer is yes.
“At the Jordan book fair, someone told me that Arabic literature isn’t international literature. Our readers indulge in reading a lot of Arabic translations of foreign literature, works of Marquez, for instance. We need to ensure we do not lose our original literature to the trends of globalisation.
Al Oufi started his remarks saying, “I feel everyone is in need of literature. It is a guardian of humanity and a keeper of our best secrets. This is the basis of all my comments today.”
He threw the following questions at the audience, “How do we engage with literature through channels other than books? What does one mean by ‘Arabic literature of today’?” The response that followed shed light on his wariness about the role of social media and electronic transmission of messages, including literary ones. He asked more questions: “Can the eBook replace the written book in our modern society? How does literature survive these new changes?”
Citing the works of Todorov, the French critic and famous formalist, who published a work about literature in danger, he said that it was, in essence, a cry out to people. The Moroccan professor went on to say that new systems of education in many places completely isolate literature. “students learn criticisms only, not the literary text itself.”
He also quoted from the works of the celebrated Egyptian journalist, Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, who wrote extensively about defending Arabic literature.
“So, when we look at these books and ideas, we feel sad that we haven’t done enough to preserve this precious cultural asset in the way we should have,” he said.
Then came Brehl, who also featured on the SIBF 2018 Publishers Conference a couple of days ago, contested these views saying that she was incredibly optimistic about the world today, especially when seen within the context of literature, poetry, art, because it can be shared on social media and so many other different ways.
“I remember when the eBook was introduced a few years ago everyone was so concerned that people would stop reading. But, what we’ve seen, at least in the USA, that people are still buying physical books and also digital books. And in the aggregate, we have more readers than we have before just because there are more ways to read now and people can choose to suit their tastes and requirements. Look at audiobooks, for example. Aren’t they preserving and continuing the art of storytelling? Oral tradition is one of the most treasured branches of literature.”
She continued: “So to the question, ‘is literature in danger?’ my answer is no. These are really exciting times. Literature is crossing boundaries because of the technology that is available. All books are books – its juts literature being delivered in a different format. Also, children are reading more than ever. Our children’s and YA genres sell better than every other genre by a huge margin.”
The 37th edition of SIBF runs until next Saturday, November 10, at Expo Centre Sharjah, under the theme ‘A Tale of Letters’. SIBF 2018’s calendar of events spans across several themes, including the cultural programme, Japanese programmes, kids’ activities, social media activities, and the cookery corner.
