Cultures in dialogue

Translation is intercultural communication par excellence. As such, it assumes a considerable role in the encounters between different cultures and their respective languages. This important role of translation stems from the fact that translating involves the carrying-over of specific socio-cultural input to and recuperated by specific target reading cultures, which have at their disposal an established system of representation with its own norms for text production and consumption of meanings vis-à-vis self, other, objects, and events. This system ultimately evolves into a master discourse of translation through which identity, similarity and difference are identified, negotiated, accepted and/or resisted. Translational encounters take place at both the intra and inter cultural levels. The chapters in this volume address these issues from different cultural angles of vision (Americas, Northern Ireland, Hong Kong, India, and the Arab/Muslim World).Said Faiq is professor ‘Translation & Intercultural Studies’ at the American University of Sharjah (VAE) and Exeter University (GB). He has published worldwide in the fields of translation studies and the dialogue between cultures.