Finally, after much waiting and several unforeseen events, a beautiful initiative taking place in the San Giacomo Auditorium in the city of Forlì on the occasion of the Translation Festival.
The Translation Festival is a biennial event, the result of a project of the Department of Interpretation and Translation of the University of Bologna and the Forlì Campus, thanks to the contribution of the Cassa dei Risparmi di Forlì Foundation.
The Translation Festival is held from 21 October to 23 October in the city of Forlì, but is celebrated throughout the country and in the main Italian cities. The three days dedicated to the Festival include meetings, shows, debates, interviews and appointments aimed at enhancing the cultural and social impact that a translation service can have.
The Festival’s packed program was created with the intention of bringing the practice of translation closer to the public, making it as human and natural as possible, bringing it into everyday examples and taking it out of a purely academic and professional sphere.
Or rather the opposite.
Let’s start from the concept or principle that underlies translation. The ultimate goal of translation is only one: to communicate. In order for two peoples of different nationalities, cultures or thoughts to be able to interact, a translation service is necessary. Dialogue between peoples would not be possible without the figure of a professional translator.
In this sense, the translator, traditionally, is identified as a person who approaches two or more interlocutors, in order to communicate first with each of them individually, and then re-elaborate the message to convey to the recipients. In this case, this scenario represents the act of rapprochement and deep understanding that the translator carries out towards his interlocutors. Closeness to a certain interlocutor is directly proportional to the translator’s interpersonal skills, cultural and linguistic skills and knowledge.
Yet the purpose of the Translation Festival is rather to push the public, the interlocutors themselves, to approach the world of translation and dialogue with translators. It is thanks to the presence and co-existence of different languages and cultures that translation services are requested and provided. Without a multi-ethnic, multicultural and multilingual society we would not need linguistic mediation experts.
This same variety, however, is respected and protected thanks to the constant work and commitment of translators and interpreters from all over the world. The importance given to translation, as well as the power and value of words, is evident precisely in a translation job carried out by a professional.
Precisely on the occasion of this edition entitled “With other words” – borrowed from Umberto Eco – we want to underline the effectiveness and conscious magic that words hide. The extraordinary power to bind, to connect, to make us feel part of a community, of history. The ability of words to connect with other languages, with other realities, with other emotions.
The Translation Festival, as anticipated, is celebrated above all in the main Italian cities, including Forlì, Milan, Padua, Turin, Rome, Lecce. All locations also designated for the #cambialalingua initiative in collaboration with the Zanichelli publishing house. But specifically, in the city that hosts the Festival, the installation of a large 4X3 meter interactive vocabulary has been planned in front of the San Giacomo Auditorium, with the invitation to discover the evolution of some words and terms over time . An undoubtedly original way to uncover parallels between the evolution of words in conjunction with various historical vicissitudes, and to anticipate future celebrations for the centenary of the publishing house in 2022.
LingoYou Press Office
