(MENAFN- The Peninsula) By Zainab Ratab | The Peninsula
Dr Philippe Figuero (pictured) is the winner of the first prize of Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and Understanding for his translation from Arabic to French.
Dr Figuero is a scholar of Arabic literature and has translated more than 15 contemporary novels from Arabic to French, including the Naguib Mahfouz triple (Nobel Prize for Literature 1988), as well as several works of classical literature, including Hamdhani.
He also presented PhD thesis at the University of Paris-Nanterre on the history of the machine and the societal interactions of this rhythmic machine.
Dr Figuero won the first prize in the category of 'Translation from Arabic to French, for his translation work Al Hamadhani's Maqamat.
The following is the excerpts of an interview held with Dr Philip Figro on the sidelines of the fourth edition of the 'Translation and Discourse Conference organised by the Forum for Arab and International Relations on December 13 and 14, 2017 in Qatar, and the third edition of the 'Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding.
Speaking about the reasons that made him interested in Arabic language, Dr Figro said, 'my interest in the Arabic language began when I reached the age of 19, at the end of secondary school. The scripts of the Arabic language were the first thing that caught my attention. I discovered the art of Arabic calligraphy in books about Arab art, because at that time I was an artist fond of abstract paintings. The flow and aesthetics of the Arabic script attracted me.
'On the other hand, I loved the vocal side (phonetics/ pronunciation) of the language. After that, I met an Egyptian family who had spent 10 years in high school, where my best friend was an Egyptian. During my visits to his home, I was listening to songs by Umm Kulthum, Mohammed Abdel Wahab and others. I can say that my interest arose from these factors. I joined the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations (INALCO) in Paris, where I learned Arabic and studied Russian for several years. Later on, I had many Arab friends, Tunisians, Moroccans and Lebanese, who still have a strong and loyal friendship to this day. I visited Morocco and Tunisia, I lived a year in Lebanon and three years in Cairo, where I worked at the CEDEJ Research Center.
'I will tell you a short story. A famous Arab writer recently published a strange article in an Arab newspaper, in which she asked the orientalists and translators. My name was on the list next to Yves Gonzalez, a friend and professor at the University of Lyon 2, as well as other English and German translators. She asked what was happening in the Arab world today is tragic, whether in Iraq, Syria, Yemen or anywhere else. Another — almost like this: Are not you tired of us and all that is going on? I can answer by saying that first of all, the West and the United States play an important role and bear a great responsibility in this tragedy. Secondly, I would like to stress that this does not at all affect our association with the Arabic language.
'On the contrary, our love for the this language and the work we do is growing more. In my view, translation work is more important than ever. In a time of racism and populism, I believe that translation can contribute, even in a simple way, to those extremist groups.
Asked about the role that need to be played by Arab translators Figro said 'I do not know what I can answer regarding the priorities of translators. At this time, I'm translating a beautiful book called 'Hail Mary by Sean Anton, an Iraqi Christian who lives in the United States. The novel shows how Muslims and Christians in Iraq coexist in a very fraternal way. Fifteen years ago, it was normal to find Muslim families consisting of a Shiamother and a Sunni father without causing any problems. The novel includes a beautiful scene where a Christian householder has to leave his home and live because of the bombs placed in front of his door.
'I think by choosing books like this, translation can bring things back to normal. It can help highlight the facts and combat the extremism and intolerance that are afflicting the Arab world today.
The role of translation is to reach out to the other, to build bridges. When I translate, I always remember Claude Levi Strauss' research, which shows that there are no more ‘primitive' societies than others. And that every ‘primitive' society was or was ‘advanced' acting according to the myths and prohibitions related to it.
When asked about his experience in translating 'Maqamat Al Hamdani (a collection of the stories of a rogue), he said he took this translation work as a challenge. 'The professional translators like us, who translated a lot of contemporary literatures, must work on our own language - French in our area - to enrich it constantly and to keep it testing.
'Experience is obtained over a period of time with continuous work, but with experience self assessment is needed before starting work on new book. As far as I am concerned, I am always worried. I have the feeling that I no longer know anything and everything must be rebuild.
'I have realised that I have started translating faster and easier than before. But every time I feel scared and worried. Will I be able to do this work?
'The translation project of Maqamat Al Hamdani dates back to 1994 on the occasion of a famous musical festival hosted by the city of Strasbourg, called Mozica, where Ahmed Sayyad, an author of contemporary Moroccan music, prepared an opera from Maqamat.
'As with opera, it needs a pamphlet. He selected four series of Muqmat and conducted several tests for translation and finally selected my translation. Then I translated these four series of Muqamat out of 50 within 15 days.
'You know that the Maqamat Al Hamdani consists of prose, poetry and combination of both like ‘Hamlet'.
'At the end of the festival, Ahmad Sayyad came to me and told me that I had to complete the translations of all Maqamat. First I restricted myself to complete my thesis, but the advice of Al Sayyad was echoing in my memory throughout that period.
'On theother hand, I was scared because it was a long time since the first attempt. My worry was that I have grown old. Will I regain the same sense? Fortunately, with God's help and will, all of this was gradually restored.
'There was another problem that was not easy: Where would I find a publisher who would be ready to adventure with me? I would like to appreciate the role of Faroq Mardum Bek, who approved immediately and excellent edits done by the Act-Sud team.
'I faced problems like any other authors of the classical literature. I translated two famous book; ‘Resalat Al Tawi W Al Zawabi' by Ibn Shahid and ‘Halbat Al Kumit' by Mohammed Al Nawaji.
'If such works are fully translated into prose, no matter how great and beautiful is the language it will be unable to transform the original spirit of work, and even worse is that the whole narrative structure is destroyed.
Abdul Fattah Kilito, a senior academician, had already declared that it is impossible to translate the Muqamat. I tried to make his prediction wrong. And I think simply with the help of God and His will I have succeeded in that.
About his current works, he said he is about to complete the book ‘Hail Mary' By Sinan Antoon. 'I was offered a special project, but I hesitated to accept it because it is a huge work . It is a heroic poetry about the Crusades, which entirely focused on the personality of a woman. The heroic poetry is titled ‘The Biography of the Princess of Valor' and is well-known among the experts.
'The great difficulty regarding the translation of classical Arabic literature is that it requires initially to go through for selection from big book of up to twenty volumes.
There is also a Moroccan author. I am his great admirer and translated his two books. I consider him a great novelist with promising prospects and his work should be followed and translated carefully.
'In addition, I have been privileged to meet him like other Arab writers. He is a very kind person. His name is Youssef Fadel. The title of the first book is ‘A Beautiful White Cat Walking with Me' and the second book ‘A rare Blue Bird Flying with Me'. In this he speaks of what is called in Morocco as 'the years of bullets. The second part of this trilogy refers to the second assassination attempt against King Hassan II. It is a story of a young pilot who found himself involved in this attack, not of ideological conviction, but he was dragged by his commanders. So he was arrested for this reason in Tazmamarat prison, while his wife was struggling to find him. I would like to translate the last part of this trilogy entitled 'Farah (happiness).
'He shares views about his impression of the fourth edition of the translation conference and the problems of the experts.
I benefited greatly from this conference because it was very diverse and carried interesting subjects. For example, I spoke last night with a Palestinian academician who is working on computer terminology and this is an interesting field. Frederick Lagrange also presented an excellent paper on the book ‘Hail Mary', which I am translating now. It was amazing to listen to his analysis of the Iraqi dialects especially to each religious sect represented in the book. There were many more interested things in the conference.
'I found that Qataris are very generous. The creation of such an award (with a special title) reveals a distinct desire to approach the world and this is remarkable in the context of the current year. I would like to take this opportunity to express to the royal family, to the State of Qatar and to the people of Qatar that I am very grateful for them.
'I started the work of translation since more than 20 years. If I have translated twenty books, I must admit that I do not start working on every new text without feeling as if I have no knowledge, no experience, because every new book given to us is special, and also because the work of translation for me is limited to one word, which is writing.
'I am not inventor of a particular technique or theory, nor even the owner of the writing style has reached perfection. I see the translation into my own acts as a continuous search.
'We have to say that, translation is a complete and multifaceted practice that guarantees all human qualities, first of which is modesty, as well as knowledge and love of research, namely, accuracy, spirit of challenge and creativity. This is what I really felt during my translation of the Maqamat Badi' az-Zaman.
I enjoyed most of the works that I have translated. I began my translation career with the novel ' between Kasserine ' by Naguib Mahfouz as part of a joint initiative between the Arab World Institute in Paris and the another publishing house, where I was asked to translate the first part of the novel as an experimental phase, and then continued until the completion of the three parts. Although that the translation of the novel took four years, but it was a source of happiness to me.
'Although that Naguib Mahfouz is the best Arabic novelist, but writer Ibrahim Al Kuni is a great writer.
'Al Kuni is a Libyan writer who has authored many books. I translated his four novels. From the political point of view, he is similar somehow to Munif, who described the arrival of oil companies in Saudi Arabia and their impact on customs and traditions in the desert. Al Kuni has established a highly integrated and systematic philosophical system, and each of his brilliant works touches upon a small part of this system. Of course, his main book is ' Al-majus ' which is a huge book, but for me the unique one is ' Waw, which they name for the mythical paradise of the Tuareg people.
'It tells the story of a tribal leader who was forced to shoulder the burden of his tribe and manage its affairs after the death of his father as required by custom. He had to solve the daily and judicial problems of the tribe members.
'In the titles of Al Kuni chapters, there is always a reference to various world religious cultures: Buddhism, Shintoism, Islam, and much of Sufism and Christianity. He once said to me: 'When I read the Bible and the Gospels, I am a Christian, when I read the Koran, I am a Muslim, and when I read the Upnishad, I am a Hindu. He is a person who feeds on these spirituality.
'For Ahmed Tawfiq (who does not present himself as a writer though he has all the qualifications) I translated to him two books.
'When I listen to these two authors, Ahmed Tawfiq and al-Kuni, they all have the same concern: to tell things that disappear under their eyes and which will not be remembered by future generations.
'Ahmed Tawfiq fears Moroccan youth will forget the mythological history of Morocco in the Middle Ages, while Al Kuni is dominated by the hypothesis that Tuareg to loss their identity.
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