Copyright © Françoise Herrmann
September 30th is International Translators Day. A day to celebrate and raise awareness of the role that translators play “in connecting nations and fostering peace, understanding and development”, per the United Nations Resolution 71/288. The United Nations resolution that proclaimed, on May 24th, 2017, International Translation Day on September 30th, each year.
September 30th is also the Day of the Feast of Saint Gerome in the Gregorian Calendar of Saints. Saint Gerome was the monk known to have translated the Old Testament of the Bible, to Latin directly from Hebrew. A translation of the Old Testament, known as the Vulgate, and dated circa 400 (Third century AD). The Vulgate is also known as Gutenberg’s Bible, as it was the version of the bible selected as the first book ever printed, in 1454, on Gutenberg’s press. In this capacity, the monk was officially canonized a saint in 1767 by Pope Clement XIII. Thus, in the catholic tradition, Saint Gerome became patron saint of translators, biblical scholars, librarians and encyclopedists, first celebrated each September 30th.
Scrolling forward to 2024, the International Federation of Translators selected the theme “Preserving the art of Translation”, in defense of copyrighted translations, in the age of Chat GTP version 4.0 and Large Language Model (LLM)-driven translations. Indeed, the theme makes clear that however scaffolded with machine translation, the translation of a published work, literary or other, remains a human endeavor. A human endeavor on a par with other sorts of creations that might be copyrighted, unless otherwise specified as machine-generated, and un-reviewed.
On a different note, on International Translation Day 2024, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) emphasized translation and interpretation of indigenous languages, as a prerequisite to shifting the dynamics of power, development and recognition in the world. Indeed, far too much indigenous knowledge and know-how is plainly robbed from indigenous people and communities, simply because it is untranslated, or untranscribed in the case of oral traditions.
As a result, the problem of copyrights put forward by the International Federation of Translators was compounded. Not only should the translator’s work be recognized in the publication sphere, but the task of translating indigenous languages must be commissioned. A task that will make it possible, in turn, for the actual content and source of the translations to also become recognized, especially when it is the original intellectual property of indigenous communities.
Thus, International Translators Day 2024 took on a more political stance. A political stance in defense of indigenous languages, and the translator's work, which has the potential to bring about greater justice, and a better distribution of power in the world.
References
IFT – International Federation of Translators.
UNESCO – International Translation Day.
UN – International Translation Day 2024.
https://www.un.org/en/observances/international-translation-day
UN Resolution 71/288
https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n17/149/29/pdf/n1714929.pdf
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