Translation as a Bridge: Connecting Cultures and Ideas

Translation, in all its uses which are encountered every day, benefits once in a while from a closer look. Beyond translation's ability to connect communities, we see a transcendental force that, with every translated text we read, we quietly acknowledge. Translation has enjoyed a reputation of tilling the soil from which ideas and discussion may flourish. We encounter diverse societies, who owe their diversity to their distinct cultural norms which influence thought.

Translated works of literature from other cultures help in planting the seeds of rethinking, reworking and analysing cultural beliefs that so often slip under our radars. Culture and translation are thus inseparable in this degree. And in this quiet inseparability, we find the transcendental force of translation. As we embark on cultural journeys, we can at times observe the exclusivity of culture as limiting since culture is itself bound to the ideas that underpin and shape it. And in this sense, the transcendence of humanity could have stopped at culture; it provides a warm end to our opinions and beliefs. Translation, however, became the connecting thread to other cultural ideas, challenging our own and providing the basis for new developments of thought, belief and action. Indeed, the stark differences in culture can make difficult the perfect translation of text, from which we know the term “lost in translation”.

However, Phoenix Translations strives to honour the transcendental force of translation; with every document, script or certificate translated proving that we need not be limited by culture. NAATI certification strengthens the connecting thread of translation, with nuance and a passion for the art of writing, ensuring a text in French is read the same in Arabic. At Phoenix Translations, the culture under language is understood; not as a limitation, but rather an undeniable factor of speech that we can transcend in favour of a harmonious, multicultural world.