The Faculty of Linguistics and Translation at Badr University in Cairo held an international seminar on the Arabic translation of the book “the West in Arab culture”, in cooperation with the Supreme Council of Culture and under the auspices of the Minister of Culture Dr. Nevine Al-Kilani. The seminar was attended by:
Prof. Dr. Fawzi Torki, President of the BUC, Prof. Dr. Amr Al-Etreby, BUC Vice President for Graduate Studies and Community Service, Prof. Anwar Moghaith, Chairman of the Translation Committee of the Supreme Council of Culture, the great Italian Arabic Studies Specialist Isabella Camera D’Affilitto, the author of the book Maria Avino, and the translators Prof. Hussein Mahmoud and Prof. Lamia Al-Sherif.
Prof. Fawzi Torki welcomed the guests of the seminar and highlighted the significance of the topic which gained the special interest of scholars in the first half of the nineteenth century and raises the issue of the relationship between the East and the West.
Prof. Amr Al-Etreby addressed young researchers to give special emphasis to learning languages for their great benefit and research.
The Italian Cultural Attache Davide Scalmani raised the topic of civilizational systems and distinguished between static and dynamic systems, which do not only engage with cultural production but with dialogic engagement that draws heavily on translation as a bridge across cultures.
On the issue of meeting point between East and West, Prof. Anwar Moghaith pointed to the state of controversy that emerges on the intellectual and social levels and whether they are interactive.
Prof. Hussein Mahmoud discussed the approach adopted in the translated book, which avoided cultural centralization and presented a general and comprehensive vision of the translation movement in the Arab world.
Prof. Lamia Al-Sherif shed light on the fear of the impact of this early interaction with the West on religion, and the efforts and techniques of the first translators.
Prof. Sami Nassar hinted that the Arab intellectual renaissance had the will to benefit from the Western Modernity. At the end of the seminar, Prof. Isabella Camera D”Affilitto spoke about the efforts of the Arabic studies specialist to translate Arabic masterpieces into Italian, while the author Maria Avino assured that she will take into account all marks made by the speakers on the subject of her book.
