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The Importance of Translation
The importance of translation over literature and culture is apparent, for it opens new horizons for the writers and poets and takes them to new areas hitherto unknown to them, and exposes them to masterpieces which increase their wealth of knowledge. It guides them to ways and styles which, if adopted and followed, will benefit them and serve as openings to invention. For the local literature or that which is contended with its own language would in no time exhaust what it has and be forced to a state of stagnation (no matter how rich it is). The Arabs had taken note of this long ago. If the period of Rashid and Ma’mum was the golden age, it was because they gave translation the consideration it deserved, and brought into the Arabic language the science of the Greeks, the Persians, and the Indians, as well as their philosophies, and they had the great honor in preserving them. They expanded it, commented on it, and extracted their own special philosophy from it. They also had the additional honor of transferring it to Europe through Spain, except that at that time, they did not believe in any poetry and literature other than Arabic poetry and literature. They neglected the masterpieces that were strange to them. If not for Ibn Muqafa, the Kalila wa Dimna could not have been among the masterpieces of Arabic literature.
The importance of translation is very numerous due to its functions and applications. A few of its merits are the following:
1. Translation helps to understand the message of the translator.
2. It assists the reader in quickly assimilating the message.
3. It provides an ample opportunity for the people who speak the translating language to read and understand the message.
4. It may even make the translated message more popular and more meaningful.
5. It brings about an increase in the number of its readers.
6. It widens the knowledge of the readers.
7. It helps in winning the hearts of customers.
8. It assists learners in getting more socialized with other people and serves as an opportunity to make new friends.
9. It helps in securing job opportunities whereby one can work as a casual interpreter from one language.
10. It also helps in dangerous situations, i.e., a little knowledge of translation could help in putting out serious disputes.
11. It is an instrument for the dissemination of scientific and technological information.
Problems of Translation
One might suggest that there are controversies among the languages of the world because of the differences in socio-cultural backgrounds that impact each language; that is why some words, phrases, and expressions in one language do not have exact equivalents in another language. What happens in one culture may be alien to another culture; the term “culture” in this context embraces the whole way of life of a given society, including language, arts, thought, customs, and beliefs. Other problems that may affect translation are semantic differentiation, lexico-semantic duplication, and redundancy; all these make translation difficult.
Dearth of vocabulary and inadequacy of expressions are other factors contributing to the problems of translation. Also, it is pertinent to mention that grammar is the lifewire of every meaningful language, but the grammatical structure of every language often poses problems for translators. Therefore, he must acquaint himself with the grammatical functions of the language he wishes to translate, the culture and literature aspects of languages, and their socio-political organizations, which allow for the smooth flow of languages. In translation, a comparative analysis of Arabic and English culture, registers, syntax, etc. needs to be studied. This will enable the learners to choose the equivalent expressions from the two languages, and he will understand that he does not translate word for word but he translates the message. This will convey the exact thought, intention, and meaning of the message in the source language.
Conclusion
You have been able to learn about the importance of translation in the lesson above. Also discussed were some of the problems or demerits one may find in translation and factors that may constitute problems in a translation effort.
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