The Art of Translation
From a Turkish prison to the Metropolitan Opera, A&S faculty members reveal what it truly takes to bridge languages, cultures and centuries through translation.
In an increasingly interconnected world, the ability to understand cultures beyond our own has never been more important. One of the most powerful ways to achieve that knowledge is through literature and cultural work. Accessing the stories, texts and art that reflect the daily lives and values of people across the globe makes one world legible to another and offers the potential to bridge divides.
Enter the translator, an artist who makes creative yet critical judgement calls. Something misunderstood is that translation involves more interpretation rather than a one-to-one exchange of words. It requires an interdisciplinary approach and deep cultural knowledge, whether that be immersing yourself in Caribbean Spanish sociolinguistics, researching 19th-century whaling vocabulary or delving into Greek mythology to translate a passage about the Milky Way Galaxy. Such answers can’t be found in the dictionary or Google Translate.
Hear About Creativity in Translation
Syracuse Symposium, the Humanities Center's annual public events series, is organized around a theme. This year's theme is "Creativity," and the March 26 "Creativity in Translation" events are among its featured programs.
First, A&S professor Sevinç Türkkan will facilitate a workshop (register here) on the creative, linguistic and cultural challenges of rendering Arabic into English. Laura Fish, acquisitions editor at SU Press, will also discuss the legal and practical aspects of publishing translated works. Later, at 6 p.m., Palestinian author Ibtisam Azem — whose novel "The Book of Disappearance," published by SU Press, was longlisted for the 2025 International Booker Prize — will join her translator, Sinan Antoon, for a bilingual reading from the original Arabic and its English translation, followed by a conversation on writing and translating. This event is free and open to the public.
Humanities Center Director Vivian May notes, “These timely events reveal the care and expertise translation requires. They also foreground an important novel and bring together its author and translator for a rare discussion about storytelling, memory and navigating the art and politics of translation..." [Read the full A&S News story.]