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Saudi Translation Movement Witnesses Surge in Publications

Translation has become an urgent necessity to keep pace with civilizational progress and exchange of knowledge (SPA)
Translation has become an urgent necessity to keep pace with civilizational progress and exchange of knowledge (SPA)
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Saudi Translation Movement Witnesses Surge in Publications

Translation has become an urgent necessity to keep pace with civilizational progress and exchange of knowledge (SPA)
Translation has become an urgent necessity to keep pace with civilizational progress and exchange of knowledge (SPA)

A Saudi initiative has translated ancient Arabic poems into Italian, making them accessible to a wider audience in an effort to showcase Arab literary heritage and culture on a global scale.

The translated book of odes presents the first complete Italian edition of these poems.

Supported by the “Tarjim” initiative by the Saudi Authority for Literature, Publishing, and Translation, this move highlights the Kingdom’s vibrant cultural scene since the launch of the National Culture Strategy in 2021.

The latest cultural report from Saudi Arabia’s Culture Ministry highlighted the success of the Tarjim initiative. This initiative aims to boost Saudi publishing and translation efforts.

In 2022, it translated 524 works into 12 languages, with English leading at 75.37%, followed by French at 10.26%.

The initiative translated 341 books from 26 publishers across 20 subjects, with male translators making up about 72% of the translations. The remaining 28% was done by female translators.

Novels ranked third in translated works at around 15%, after educational children’s books and philosophy.

In 2023, the initiative saw even more success, translating over a thousand editions between Arabic and other languages, involving about 22 global languages and engaging over 500 international translators.

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Culture

UN Puts 4th Century Gaza Monastery on Endangered Site List

The Saint Hilarion complex dates back to the fourth century. Mahmud HAMS / AFP/File
The Saint Hilarion complex dates back to the fourth century. Mahmud HAMS / AFP/File
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UN Puts 4th Century Gaza Monastery on Endangered Site List

The Saint Hilarion complex dates back to the fourth century. Mahmud HAMS / AFP/File
The Saint Hilarion complex dates back to the fourth century. Mahmud HAMS / AFP/File

The Saint Hilarion complex, one of the oldest monasteries in the Middle East, has been put on the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites in danger due to the war in Gaza, the body said Friday.
UNESCO said the site, which dates back to the fourth century, had been put on the endangered list at the demand of Palestinian authorities and cited the "imminent threats" it faced.
"It's the only recourse to protect the site from destruction in the current context," Lazare Eloundou Assomo, director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, told AFP, referring to the war sparked by Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel.
In December, the UNESCO Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict decided to grant "provisional enhanced protection" -- the highest level of immunity established by the 1954 Hague Convention -- to the site.
UNESCO had then said it was "already concerned about the state of conservation of sites, before October 7, due to the lack of adequate policies to protect heritage and culture" in Gaza.
The Hamas attack on October 7 resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel's retaliatory offensive against Hamas has killed at least 39,175 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, which does not give details of civilian and militant deaths.