EVENT REPORT
Anubad Sahitya Puraskar 2024: Celebrating the achievements of translators
Speakers talked about the losses and the gains of the meaning of text after having undergone translation, about the responsibility and the power that a translator holds in taking an author’s words and transforming it for a different reader base
On February 10, Saturday, Bangla Translation Foundation in collaboration with Panjeree Publications Ltd. held an award ceremony entitled 'Anubad Sahitya Puraskar 2023', to celebrate the contributions of translators to Bangla literature. The event was held at the National Art Gallery Auditorium of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.
Esteemed guests and attendees at the award ceremony. Chairman of BTF, Professor Khaliquzzaman Elias presided over the event; chief guest of the session, Mohammad Nurul Huda, Director General of Bangla Academy also graced the event, along with Ekushey Padak winner and freedom fighter, Dr Nurun Nabi, who inaugurated the session.
The ceremony was held in three sessions. The introductory session was graced by some of the most accomplished translators of our country, accompanied by guest translator Bonnie Chau, representative of American Literary Translators Association (ALTA). Alongside, the launch of a literary magazine on translation named Juktaswar was announced.
In the second session entitled, "Translation or Transcreation: the Role of Interpretation in Translating" saw esteemed speakers like Bonnie Chau, representative of the American Literary Translation Association; Professor Fakrul Alam, who was the chief of the session; Professor Rashid Ashkari, Professor G H Habib, and more spoke on the importance of interpretation in translation or transcreation. During this session, many important topics were covered, starting from how to properly use creative writing in translation, the importance of interpretation all the way up to having an understanding of not only the language but the cultures of both languages.
Emphasis was placed on the importance of context, culture, and their roles in translation as Javed Hossain, one of the speakers who contributed to the discussion, said, "It is important to judge and understand context. Without an extensive understanding of culture, one would not be able to do any translation justice."
Speakers talked about the losses and the gains of the meaning of text after having undergone translation, about the responsibility and the power that a translator holds in taking an author's words and transforming it for a different reader base.
As readers and writers, being bilingual not only offers us the chance to consume literature and arts across different cultures, but it allows us access into whole different worlds. Those of us who go on to translate for other people to consume, it then becomes a matter of great responsibility to properly translate, not only the words, but the meaning and the hundred of years of culture that come with these words, to a reader who may otherwise be unfamiliar.
This then brought the speakers to the importance of understanding the reader as Professor Md Shafiqul Islam explained, "If the translation is not properly geared towards the right audience, it will not be properly received."
To this, Bonnie Chau added, "Alongside concepts like adaptation, translation, transcreation, interpretation and adaptation, there is also transposition." Her words served as a reminder of just how much complexity there is in the art of translation and how all these concepts can either make or break a properly translated piece.
The ceremony concluded with the handing out of the awards to some of the best pieces of translation this year. Among the award winners was writer-translator Professor Abdus Selim, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions thus far to Bangla Literary Translation.
Alongside this, Professor Abhijit Mukherjee, one of the three winners of the Book of the Year Award, won under the category of Translation of Foreign Literature to Bangla. Marzia Rahman, the second winner of this award, won under the category of Bangla Literature into Foreign Languages category and lastly, writer-translator Mashiul Alam, the third winner of this award won for his translation of Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
Syeda Erum Noor is devoted to learning about the craft of writing and is an avid reader who can talk endlessly about the magic of books. Reach her at @syedaerumnoorwrites.