A report by the Anna Lindh Foundation emphasizes that increasing the language translation of Arabic works to European languages is crucial for the enhancement of Arab-European cultural relations.

According to Bikya Masr, the Ana Lindh Foundation report, ‘A Mapping of Translation in the Euro-Mediterranean region’ was produced in partnership with Paris-based ‘Transeuropéennes’. It reveals that in European Union countries only 1 out of 1000 translated books comes from the Arabic language.

In France, for example, Arabic is the source for less than 0.65% of translated books; and in the last 25 years, there have only been 1,065 books translated from Arabic.

By contrast, across the Mediterranean, 35.000 books in the last 25 years have been translated from European languages into Arabic, with the majority of works having English as the main source language.

Mr. Andreu Claret, Executive Director of the Anna Lindh Foundation, said that “improving translations between Arabic and European languages is so crucial for overcoming the clash of ignorance existing in the Mediterranean region, that the European Union and the institutions of the Union for the Mediterranean should launch a long-term and sustainable programme on this issue”.

Mr. Xavier Troussard, Head of the Culture Policy, Diversity and Intercultural Dialogue Unit of the European Union, added that “Promoting translations among European and other Mediterranean languages must be a central issue for any cultural policy in this region and for the EuroMed political dialogue”.

Alex Dupont

See Also

• More about language translation
  Translation is the act of rewriting a document, changing it into another language. The original language is called the source language. The language into which the source text is translated is called the target language.
• Translation is crucial for Arab-Euro relations
  Policies in favor of increasing translation of Arabic works to European languages are essential to the promotion of cultural relations between Arabs and Europeans
• A MAPPING OF TRANSLATION IN THE EURO-MEDITERRANEAN REGION
  A project carried out by Transeuropéennes and the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue between Cultures.
• More about the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue between Cultures
  Our purpose is to bring people together from across the Mediterranean to improve mutual respect between cultures.
• More about the European Union
  The EU is a unique economic and political partnership between 27 European countries that together cover much of the continent.