Technological advances in the computer and telecommunication industries in the past two decades have changed the media and communication scene in the world today. The Arab world has not been isolated from this and is undergoing rapid changes prompted by technological, political and demographic modifications. In former times one found more English versions of TV series or Internet sites, but in the Arab world of today, Arabic is being adapted to the digital applications of the new era of multimedia, online sites of major newspapers, satellite channels and DVDs.
In a range of articles, Muhammad Y Gamal highlights the challenges faced by the Arab world in the new media age, as well as the significance of audiovisual culture in a society characterised by its young population. He is an applied linguist with special interest in audiovisual translation. In his presentation at Languages and The Media, he will focus on the challenge of quality of audiovisual translation (AVT) in this region. The purpose of his research is to provide a theoretical framework for AVT in the Arab world, which is still largely unexamined.
The digital revolution of the 1990s, which meant the commercialisation of the Internet, the emergence of multimedia, computers and satellite technology, made audiovisual translation a growth industry. One result of these developments has been an increase in demand for more subtitled programmes, subtitlers and subtitling companies. Consequently, the revolution of the past few years has changed the way people see and seek information and education, the biggest difference being that the Arab world is no longer a passive consumer, listening and watching foreign broadcasting in English.
Muhammad Y Gamal describes two major changes that have taken place. First, other international players, such as the BBC, Euronews, France 24, Russia Today and Iran’s Alalam, have decided break the American monopoly on broadcasting in Arabic, entering the market alongside America’s Arabic-language channel, Al Hurra. Second, Al Jazeera has entered the media market in both Arabic and English, which provides a valuable balance. Gamal believes that one of the immediate results of the digital revolution was the liberalisation of media production with a proliferation of satellite channels in this region. This, in turn, has led to the need for audiovisual translators. Out of an industry force with little academic input, he points out that “the AVT is still now an industry without a profession in most parts of the Arab world”. Despite huge media-production centres in Cairo, Damascus and Dubai, there are no professional training opportunities for subtitlers or media translators, according to Gamal.
Further, the applied linguist argues that the full potential of digital technology has not been utilized. In the absence of formal training in AVT, most translation work on films is completed neglecting the special attributes of the medium. This situation, prompted by market forces and not assisted by academic impact, continues to employ strategies that are profit-driven and disregards the damage that poor translation techniques can inflict on a good product.
By scrutinising the scene in several parts in the Arab world and analysing certain phenomena, Gamal hopes that with the help of his research, he will stimulate a debate on AVT and its challenges. For example, he invites participants to discuss his claim that AVT remains outside the domain of academic research and professional examinations despite numerous conferences and professional discussions of Arab cinema abroad. He also seeks to extend the current debates focusing on the quality of the translation on screen, the training of subtitlers and the development of subtitling norms that best suit the local viewership.
As Gamal says, AVT training is highly relevant, since the Arab and Muslim worlds must engage more with the outside world. Despite continued pressure and the prevailing culture of mistrust, more translation must be done, more dialogue carried out and more films subtitled. The onus is now on the Arab world, more than ever before, to present itself to the international community in a language it understands.
Muhammad Y. Gamal is an applied linguist with special interest in audiovisual translation. For many years, his research interests have focused on the subtitling of Egyptian films. His latest professional work is the subtitling of Omar Sharif’s film “Hassan and Morcos”, currently being considered by the Egyptian Film Organization for nomination to the 2009 Oscars, into English. He is a senior linguist working for the state government of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.
On Thursday, October 30th from 14:30 to 16:00, Muhammad Y Gamal will hold his presentation and give concrete insight into the topic of Audiovisual Translation in the Arab World.
More about the Audiovisual Translation in the Arab World by Muhammed Y Gamal:
Gamal, M. (2008a) “Subtitling: the audiovisual scene in Egypt” published on the Arab Media and Society website:
http://www.arabmediasociety.com/?article=675
Gamal, M. (2008b) “Adding Text to Image: the challenges of subtitling non-verbal communication”, published in the proceedings of the XVII FIT Congress in Beijing, China.
Gamal, M. (2008c) “AVT in Saudi Arabia”, paper to be presented at the Saudi Association of Translation Conference in Riyadh, November 2008.
Gamal, M. (2007a) “Audiovisual Translation in the Arab World”, published in Translation Watch Quarterly Vol. 3.2. Melbourne.
Gamal, M. (2007b) “Audiovisual Translation in Egypt”, published in the proceedings Maastricht Duo Colloquium on Translation and Meaning Vol. 7. Holland
