Today’s the day translators and interpreters the world over show solidarity and promote their profession. I’m sure it will gets lots of mentions across the blogosphere, but I couldn’t let my first one go without comment. So here we go – a rundown of the highlights (according to me), judiciously edited for your reading pleasure.
International Translation Day has been promoted since 1991 by the International Federation of Translators. The day coincides with St Jerome’s Day, recognised by the Catholic Church as the patron saint of translators, scholars and editors, as well as libraries and librarians. A busy guy, then.
St Jerome – a man as relevant to translators today as he was in 420AD
St Jerome is known for translating the Bible from Aramaic and Hebrew into Latin. There’s a good rundown of his life in the church and an interesting consideration of the translation challenges he faced here.
However, it doesn’t sound like St Jerome was your typical shy and retiring translator, by any means. He was known for his ferocious temper and vitriolic pen, and for being an unoriginal thinker (ouch – I’m with him on that last one). There is even some debate about the degree to which he translated the Bible himself. His trusty research assistants and benefactors, the mother-daughter team St Paula and Eustochium, have been credited with doing much of the work, and in the true style of all good conspiracy theories (cf. The Da Vinci Code), Google throws up some fascinating claims that their names were removed from the annals of history because they were female. (Here’s hoping their research skills were more rigorous than mine).
Now, that’s not to say St Jerome’s life was all work and no play. He was, according to Butler’s Lives of the Saints, “no admirer of moderation, whether in virtue or against evil.” He even gets a mention in one of the Ghostbusters films, according to Hoopla. Now that’s more like the modern-day translators I know.
There’s another interesting translator’s perspective on St Jerome (minus the salacious gossip) here, via Language Hat’s archives.
There are even a couple of pictures batting about, if you fancy wallpapering your workspace or photoshopping up a card or two – here’s one from Robin Stocks’s blog Carob, and another one from Margaret Mark’s Transblawg.
Translators of the world unite
The International Federation of Translators has chosen the theme of Don’t Shoot the Messenger for 2007, and will be lobbying for recognition of the profession internationally. Elsewhere around the world, translation organisations have organised a range of training and networking events at national and local level. Powwows have also been organised via the Proz.com community – another example of online networking facilitating rather than replacing real-life human interactions (Yay! I love contradicting the online networking naysayers 
) Incidently, the one in London looked particularly well attended, in spite of or perhaps thanks to being organised on the same day as the Chartered Institute of Linguists Members Day (which I was due to attend but was forced to bow out due to severe sniffles).
Finally, Kumarajiva also warrants a mention here. A Buddhist scholar and translator, he’s not a saint (for obvious reasons) and has no day to call his own, but is still someone many translators identify strongly with.
Happy International Translation Day all! (and hat tip to Otilia over at LA TRADUCCIÓN AL DESCUBIERTO for the reminder…)
Update 1/10/08: Link to South African Translators’ Institute updated.
About the author
Sarah Dillon is a qualified, accredited and experienced professional translator originally from Co. Clare in Ireland. She specialises in producing English-language texts that don't "sound" like translations, ensuring her clients' message has the desired impact in their overseas market. She is based in Brisbane, Australia and works with corporate clients, small businesses, agencies and nonprofit organisations all over the world. In her spare time, Sarah is also Marketing Director of eCPD Webinars.
Sarah Dillon has written 252 posts for There's Something About Translation.
