Abu Dhabi’s National Library and Archives (NLA) accepted 70 research papers to feature in the 2nd International Conference on Translation, which will be held under the theme ‘Translation and Preservation of the Memory of the Nation: The Image of the UAE in Cultures, Literatures and World Intellectual Heritage.’ The conference is scheduled to be held as a virtual event from 9-13 May, 2022.
Looking forward to the second edition, Hamad Al Hamiri, Director of Research and Knowledge Services Department at the NLA says, “After the success of the first international conference on translation, we noticed a remarkable turnout by researchers, translators, experts, and specialists to participate in the second international conference. We had hardly finalized the date of receiving the research papers until large numbers of serious research on innovative topics began to pour in from all around the world. The organizing committee selected 70 papers covering all ten themes of the conference.”
Several critical topics were identified, including the image of the UAE in the eyes of European travellers, European historical and political narratives about the UAE, dilemmas and problems in translating from several European languages, contemporary Emirati civilisational achievements in European and Asian writings, current challenges in translations and the role of translations in enhancing the UAE’s position and its cultural heritage globally in the 21st century, the representation of the UAE society in Western cultures and literature, the role of the UAE government institutions in developing the translation process in the Arab world, new theories in translation, and the role of Arab universities in developing translation-teaching programmes, among others.
After the success of the first translation conference, Al Hamiri also revealed a request received by the National Archives from Cambridge-based Ethics International Press, expressing its admiration for the themes selected for the second edition and its desire to publish the papers to be presented at the online meet. He also stated that discussions were still underway between the National Archives and the press on the matter of publishing rights of the former as the organizer of the conference.
A number of senior academics and researchers from major universities and institutions from all around the world will be participating in the virtual conference.
