Thus, translation becomes a field of cultural production and cross-border exchanges.

1 – Translation in the field of humanities and social sciences in general, and in the field of history in particular, raises several questions centered around the nature of the relationship between translation as a stand-alone specialty and history as a social science that approaches its topics and issues from the standpoint of pluralism, from linguistics to literature, and from philosophy. To the history of thought, from economics to law.

This was the gist of the lecture given by historian and translator Professor Khalid Bin Al-Saghir, Professor of Contemporary History at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities in Rabat, as part of a series of lectures organized by the Higher Academic Authority for Translation of the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco. My following of this lecture raised a number of questions that enabled me to consider research on the relationship between translation and history as essential in order to understand their boundaries and connections, as well as to clarify the stakes of translating history in order to preserve identity and cultural communication, and to reflect on the ethical challenges of translating history to ensure neutrality and objectivity in conveying events and facts, which allows us to pay attention to the nature of cultural influences during the translation of history, and to the overall legal challenges of translating historical documents due to their importance in understanding and representation, especially when history is written in a language we do not understand.

2 – To what extent do translations of historical documents have historical value in themselves? Is translation of history possible? Does translation have a role in documenting and verifying historical events? What is the impact of modern technologies on historical translation? How does translation preserve historical truth? Is there a scientific methodology for translating historical text? Does translation have an impact on writing history from a global perspective? What role does translation play in re-evaluating historical events from a different cultural perspective? What can be done to encourage scientific research in the field of translation and history?

In my opinion, these questions and others identify some of the theoretical and methodological difficulties that the historian and researcher can face in translating historical texts in particular. The matter is also similar with regard to other literary and philosophical texts, for example, and I can summarize the most important of them as follows:

First: the obscurity of the language. Historical texts may contain outdated language or expressions that are unfamiliar to the translator, which may hinder understanding the correct meaning of the text and translating it accurately.

Second: textual error. There may be a defect in the historical text as a result of damage to ancient manuscripts and documents, and this makes it difficult for the translator to translate the text accurately.

From this perspective, the relationship of translation to history calls on the researcher to think about the limits of the impact of translation on documenting historical events, and to explain how translated texts form and understand historical periods. This requires attention on several levels, the most prominent of which are:

First: The necessity of documenting events and texts: In a world full of diverse cultures and different languages, translation can play an important role in documenting events and reference texts, such as official documents, contracts and treaties.

Second: Shaping historical understanding: Translation affects the understanding of historical texts, and the translator’s choices may lead to a different understanding of the original text.

Third: Translation as a tool of power: Translation is considered a means of imposing symbolic authority. Translating religious texts in the Middle Ages was used to strengthen the authority of the Church, just as it was used in modern times to enhance the cultural and political hegemony of countries and empires, as is the case – for example – with the Roman Empire. Translation was employed to spread imperial laws and decrees among the various peoples under its control.

Fourth: Translation and the formation of national identity: The translation of literary and historical works is considered a tool for forming awareness of national identity, introducing its culture, and affirming its global status.

3- It is clear from the above that historical translation is possible when it comes to translating historical texts and documents, but translating historical facts directly and without accurate analysis or interpretation may be impossible. This is – in my opinion – what makes translating history an intellectual challenge due to the nature of historical knowledge and our understanding of it. It is possible to translate this knowledge literally, that is, to translate events and dates accurately, but history is not just a series of events and dates, but rather an interpretation and explanation of those events based on the available data and the cultural, social, and political context.

Translation is not just a transfer of words from one language to another, but also a transfer of meanings, concepts and contexts. From this perspective, it seems necessary for the historian-translator, while translating a historical text, to take into account the following:

Deep understanding of the culture: The translator must be familiar with the culture and historical context of the source text and the target language.

Research and verification: from the historical information and sources used in the original text to ensure accuracy of transmission and to avoid distortion or distortion.

Relying on historical analysis: That is, the translator must be able to analyze the historical text of the original text and accurately transfer this analysis into the target language.

There is no doubt that the above considerations and others are sufficient to preserve the historical truth in translation since it is not a technical transfer of words from one language to another, but also an understanding of the cultural, social and political context. Pascal Casanova has a valuable study on “The World Republic of Letters” La république mondiale des lettres, which is originally a university thesis that she prepared under the supervision of the sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, and she directed it around many issues related to the world language, translation and power based on a central question: Can translation be a way to produce or reproduce a balance of power between languages ​​and societies? According to this understanding: What is the nature of the relationship between the world language, translation and power?

What does global language mean in this context?

4 – Linguistic and social research confirms that the global language – in its simplest understanding – is the geographically widespread language, spoken and understood by the largest number of communities in different regions of the world, noting that the number of people who speak a language is not considered a criterion alone to consider a language a global language; for example, the Chinese language is spoken by about 1.39 billion people, or about 16% of the world’s population, so is it a global language? According to statistics, the English language comes in third place, spoken by about 527 million people, and the Arabic language comes in fourth place with 467 million speakers, an increase of one hundred million over the Spanish language, which comes in fifth place with 389 million speakers. The language spoken by the largest number of countries is English, and it comes in first place with about 101 countries, followed by the Arabic language with about 60 countries, including 22 countries belonging to the League of Arab States, while the rest of the countries are distributed across the continents of Asia and Africa. I conclude from the above this question: Is the concept of a global language equivalent to the concept of an international language?

Let us agree to consider a global language to be a language that is widespread in terms of its geographical location (the number of countries and international organizations that recognize it as an official language), and in which a large number of speakers from different regions of the world can speak and understand it. The international language is the approved language for communication between people of different nationalities who do not share the same mother tongue.

I consider the above references important to illustrate one aspect of the combination of the concepts of global language, translation and power in their political, economic and cultural dimensions. According to this logic, dominant states impose the use of their own language in the areas of international trade and diplomatic relations, just as they can reinforce cultural hegemony by translating and disseminating their culture throughout the world, which may lead to the marginalization of other cultures.

In this sense, translation can be viewed as a field of cultural production and exchanges across national borders, which is only discussed today within the framework of the concept of globalization. This is what Johan Heilbron and Gisèle Sapiro paid attention to in their introduction to the fourth issue of Research Works in the Social Sciences for the year 2002, which was devoted to To examine some issues of literary translation as a sociological topic. This means that translation assumes – first and foremost – a field of international relations that brings together countries and linguistic groups that have competitive relations. To understand the act of translation, we need to analyze it as part of the power relations between countries and their languages, as it is a social space governed – in one way or another – by a three-dimensional logic: political relations between countries, the international book market, and cultural exchanges.

Let’s think…

And to another conversation.