Presentation
Translation: Juan Mari Mendizabal
In the present issue we follow the path initiated in the previous double issue, where we did interviews on translating. This time we come with a stimulating interview with Pello Zabaleta, a translator of long experience who was awarded the Euskadi Translation Prize by the Basque Government. Pellos assessments are not at all ordinary, as our readers will soon find out. After mentioning different aspects related to the prize he was awarded, he reviews the three fields where Basque translation is most used nowadays - administration, the media and literature, all three realms being familiar to Pello in his experience as a translator. And he comes up with some interesting ideas, ideas which ought to make one think: the embarrassment and narcissism exuding from the Basque used in administration (translated) texts, a language which instead of being a means of communication is exhausting itself without ever achieving any pedagogic result; the subordination and imitation of Spanish/French, a bad habit of the Basque used in the media; the «two eyes» of the Basque reader who, unable to voluntarily appreciate reading, turn instead to reading as a penance, always looking for failures in the writers/translators text; people saying that they belong to a lost generation as regards reading translated texts perhaps we could add that there is no generation which hasnt been or is not going to be lost-, and that now the new generations have to take up the work; the little influence that translation has had on the world of Basque, contrary to what happened in other countries; the need for some kind of jury and proofreaders in order to control and ensure the quality of, above all, the literary translation being undertaken at present, and the lack of will to do so, etc...
Secondly, we have to mention an event of the utmost importance for the Association of Basque Translators, Interpreters and Proofreaders: during the annual conference held at Belgrade last August EIZIE was accepted as a member of the International Translators Association (FIT) and was appointed to the Presidency of the Committee of Translators for Medium and Lesser Used Languages. In the article by Josu Zabaleta you can read about the steps followed to achieve this, as well as a chronicle of the meetings and conference at Belgrade. As the author of the article states, this event reflects the acceptance and fame of the EIZIE Association beyond our frontiers, and as a result we have started accepting the fact of also being different within our borders, both in the world of culture and with Basque institutions. This might bring about many productive projects, the first one being organizing, within the framework of the Summer Courses organized every year by the University of the Basque Country in San Sebastian, for the summer 1991 a special course on translation, which will be attended by experts from all over the world. And having connections with other translators associations could create new chances for the translation world as well as for the translators themselves. The first steps have been taken.
Besides this, we present a piece of research on the use of Basque in advertising, taken in a broad sense. Jesus Eguzkiza, the author, explains the negative consequences that might result from having to pass the Basque used in publicity through the sieve of badly undertaken translation. Although the scope of the advertising in question is limited to institutional advertisements, the ideas suggested by the author of the article (the result of a one-day working session on Basque language and advertising) are very interesting.
In Sarka Grauovás article deep reflection is proposed on the influence and importance of fiction and poetry translation in the literature of lesser-used languages, which seems relevant to Basque literature.
In another article, J.C. Sager comes up with an idea concerning translators associations: seeing what the task of translators and their associations in society is, his proposal is that to become a member of these associations one should pass an exam. However, he suggests this system to be implemented little by little, not all at once.
Moreover, Angel Lobera writes an answer to the article by A. Sarriegi and to the proposal therein.
Apart from these sections, this issue includes the usual sections, such as short topics, comments and news items.
