A Translator’s View of al-Andalus—the social politics of translation and communication in the Mediterranean Middle Ages
Barcelona
9 June 2006, 16.30 – 20.00 h
Through discussion of Youssef Chahine’s film Destiny with background information from Rosa María Menocal’s book The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain, we’ll look at cross-cultural communication in the Middle Ages from the idealistic view of the people who helped make it happen—translators working closely with writers to help them bring messages to readers. Destiny, by Egyptian director Chahine, won the 50th Anniversary Prize at the Cannes festival in 1997. It begins in Toulouse at the autodafé of a translator and continues to examine similarly difficult conditions developing further south, in the Cordoba of Averroes’ time.
Developers: |
|
Facilitators: |
Irwin
Temkin and Mary Ellen Kerans |
Fee: |
€15
— All participants must be members of MET before the workshop
or join when registering. MET has special arrangements for admitting
members of some other organizations or guests. Consult the workshop
chairperson if you think that policy might apply to you: metmworkshops@gmail.com |
Purpose
To discuss the role of the “Western Caliphate” of Cordoba
(756-1031) in creating and transferring knowledge in the Mediterranean
region and beyond.
This discussion workshop and social event highlights the reason why al-Andalus is remembered as a historical Camelot of Mediterranean culture. We’ll briefly discuss how Cordoba’s golden age of culture came about and the city’s role in the production of knowledge in Arabic as the main international language for culture at that time. By medieval standards, Cordoba was a thriving multicultural, multilingual city whose writers produced books and translations that rivaled those of Baghdad and far outshone those of other European capitals—until Muslim fundamentalist sects spread northward from Africa. Chahine’s film Destiny shows Cordoba just as the Caliphate started to decline, when its ideals were still remembered by Cordobans who hoped the city would keep its place of cultural superiority.
Brief discussion of the film’s historical background, the rise and fall of the “Western Caliphate” based on Menocal’s work. Participants will have a chance to see excerpts from and discuss the themes in Destiny, the 1997 film by Egyptian filmmaker Youssef Chahine (Arabic with English subtitles). This is also a networking and social event—so there will be the chance to continue discussion over supper at a nearby restaurant.
Who
should attend
Anyone interested in Mediterranean cultural history or in viewing the
translator’s role from a fresh perspective. This is also a chance
for MET members to get to know each other.
Outcome
skills
This workshop is not designed to enhance specific outcome skills.
However, the look at Cordoba's golden age will be of interest to historians
and translators alike, and may help in a deeper understanding of current
events.
Pre-meeting
information
The film
Destiny by Egyptian filmmaker Youssef Chahine, is something special and needs to be personally experienced. Chahine is an accomplished director and establishes his mastery over sophisticated Western-style film making—and at other moments he makes unabashed use of a style akin to Hollywood musicals of the 1940s and 1950s. In other words, Destiny is sophisticated and polished in places, adopts an intentionally naif esthetic in others, and is full of surprises and real history.
Peter Keogh: There's nothing like a burning heretic to grab your attention at the beginning of a movie....[read more]
History and Cultural Background
The very brief historical background information to the film will come mainly from Yale professor María Rosa Menocal’s 2002 book The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain (Boston: Little Brown).
A glance at reviews of the book will give you an idea of its messages:
The Washington Post: link
The Jewish Press: link
The Christian Science Monitor: link
Chicago Sun-Times: link
About the developers
Irwin
Temkin
received his MA in TESOL at Teachers College, Columbia University and
came to Barcelona in 1978. He currently works as an English instructor,
teacher-trainer and translator.
e-mail: destinyworkshops@yahoo.com
Mary
Ellen Kerans, a specific-purposes English instructor, biomedical
translator and author’s editor, received her MA in TESOL. She is
the MET council chair.
e-mail:
METworks@gmail.com