The politics of translation, discovers Rania Khallaf, sparked the most fiery of debates at the CIBF The first seminar scheduled for 17 January -- "The horizons of Egyptian-German cultural cooperation" -- was due to be held in the Sixth of October Hall. Only by 4pm the hall was still empty. Shortly afterwards I realised the seminar must have been cancelled, something that everyone, apart from me, seemed already to know. Hardly an auspicious start. The following day "Has knowledge become a commodity? The role of publishing and the scientific community in a globalised age" -- held like all other seminars amid the stalls of the hall devoted to Germany, the CIBF's guest of honour -- began 20 minutes late. As the public browsed the surrounding stalls, Christoph Links, of the publisher Links, one of Germany's largest, opened the discussion. Links, he said, founded just two weeks after the fall of the Berlin Wall in what had been East Germany, had faced many obstacles in establishing itself. "Unlike the situation in countries such as Switzerland and Canada we do not receive any kind of financial support from the government and are forced to find our own ways to face the competition," he said. "We do, however, receive some support from the private sector, including Volkswagen, which allows us to produce affordable scientific titles. Without such support scientific books would be prohibitively expensive." Qassem Abdu Qassem, of the Cairo-based Ayn publishing house, after citing his own experience of publishing social science and psychology titles, went on to argue that as the world becomes increasingly divided into developed nations that possess expertise and attract the best minds from developing countries, and underdeveloped nations, knowledge too is increasingly commodified, becoming accessible only to those who can pay for it. Qassem argued that the translation of scientific texts from German into Arabic was one means by which the technological gap could be narrowed, and also suggested that some texts be produced in editions in which the Arabic appears next to the German. Peter Sillem, of Fischer Sachbuch Verlag (FSV), publisher of literary and scientific titles, outlined FSV's approach to publishing thus: "We resort to what can be described as a mixed calculation, using the profits that accrue from popular titles that are widely distributed, usually novels, to subsidise the publication of books that will not enjoy such wide distribution. In such a way we can fulfil our social responsibilities." Sillem went on to lament the increasing power wielded by a handful of companies that have monopolised the distribution process and lambasted distributors for ultimately deciding how many copies of individual titles are sold, and where. "In Germany," Sillem continued, "books are sold according to a unified pricing policy, so that titles enjoy the same opportunities in the market." And while the German government provides no subsidies to publishers, neither does it impose any form of censorship. It does, however, monopolise the publishing of school books, thus depriving private publishers of a profitable market. Adnan Salem, of the Syrian publishing house Dar Al-Fikr, said that "like most publishers in the Arab world Dar Al-Fikr works without any support from either the government or civil society organisations." The speakers, with the exception of Qassem, all agreed that the role of the government should be restricted to the provision of subsidies for titles that would otherwise not be a commercial proposition, and in establishing public libraries. "Publishing in the age of globalisation and cultural multiplicity" was the theme of Saturday's seminar, and the subject was addressed by guest Stefan von Holtzbrinck, publisher of over 20 specialist scientific magazines that are distributed in 80 countries. Holtzbrinck told the audience that "publishers should act as a bridge between national and international interests" though the role was, he conceded, a difficult one. "In Germany, in the last century, society faced many problems including terrorism, the nuclear threat and unemployment. In addition, it had to face the consequences of the Nazi regime. At the time, though, discussion of such topics was limited. Now we live in a globalised world, one in which it is impossible to avoid conflicts however far away they take place, and as publishers the onus is on us to promote peaceful solutions and the freedom and welfare of all peoples. It is the duty of the publisher to support and spread the culture of peace, of tolerance." And in seeking to promote tolerance Holtzbrinck argued that translation can play an important role. "We must learn each others languages and not rely on the language of international trade which belongs neither to the German nor Arab peoples." While few contemporary Arab literary texts are currently available in German, Holtzbrinck is optimistic that the situation can change. "As for electronic publishing," he said, "I do not expect much... in spite of vast developments in the field electronic books have not replaced paper books yet. The situation is unlikely to change except, possibly, as far as encyclopaedias and travel books are concerned." Ibrahim El-Moalem, head of the Egyptian and Arab Publishers' Unions who chaired the seminar, asked if the publisher might help Egyptian students and scholars by providing textbooks through the library of the Goethe Institute. Holtzbrinck answered that he did not support such "subsidised borrowing of books". "It would be much better for you to acquire knowledge by translation, not by borrowing academic books," he concluded. On Sunday the German pavilion was the venue for one of the most fiery seminars, tackling the access of Arab literary texts to the German market. Hartmut Fahndrich, who has translated 45 titles from Arabic into German, opened the proceedings by noting how few Arabic texts are translated into German when compared to translations from English, Spanish or Italian. "The literature of Latin America, for example, has carved out a secure niche in the European book market," he said. "But very few publishing houses have any interest in publishing translations from Arabic. The perception is that Arab literature comes from a different world and expresses experiences with which German readers will be unable to relate." Fahndrich then went on to tell the packed audience how he selected titles to translate. "I travel to many Arab countries and I meet with leading writers, such as Edwar al-Kharat, who know more than I about new trends in Arab literature. The problem, though, is that however admiring I am of a particular novel this is not sufficient to begin translating. First a publisher must be interested in publishing the novel, and it is not easy to stimulate their interest." When novelist Salwa Bakr questioned Fahndrich over whether the interest of Western publishers in women's writing remained strong he replied that "publishers in Europe continue to welcome writing by women in which they talk about their depression and sufferings", though it was a trend, he hoped, that would not continue forever. In too many cases, he said, the European vision of Arabs remains stuck in the 18th century, or at best is derived from the A Thousand and One Nights. "In order to correct such images we need to translate many more contemporary works that deal with problems that intersect with the interests of European readers." To achieve this, he suggested, "it is important to increase cooperation between individuals interested in publishing Arab literature in Germany. We need, too, a data base of writers in Arab countries, and financial support." Unfortunately, he added, the publishing houses that are interested in publishing Arab literary works have very limited budgets, and "what is more depressing is the absence of a single Arab cultural organisation ready to cooperate in supporting translation projects." Gamal El-Ghitany, whose novels Al-Zeini Barakat and Al-Tagaliyat have been translated into German, criticised the Egyptian cultural establishment and the organisers of the Frankfurt Book Fair for having no vision or policy when it comes to translation. "Works by Naguib Mahfouz and Yehia Haqqi," he said, "should have been translated by the General Egyptian Book Organisation in the 1950s," he argued. But, responded Fahndrich, it is impossible for a publisher in Egypt to make a decision on what might sell in Germany "without cooperating with German publishers who understand their domestic market". El-Ghitany also lambasted German publishers for their lack of interest in concluding contracts for translation with Egyptian and Arab writers during the current round of the CIBF. "They just came as guests of honour," he complained, "to discuss some ideas and then they will return without any initiative in place that will grant an audience to emerging Arab voices." It was, perhaps, this final point that proved too much for a member of the audience, Hosni Abdel-Rahim, who responded to El-Ghitani's assertions with some scathing criticism of his own. Abdel-Rahim accused El-Ghitany, the editor-in-chief of Akhbar Al-Adab, the weekly literary magazine, of operating a policy of favouritism. " Akhbar Al-Adab 's marginalising of writers from 1970s and 1990s generations has effectively blocked their careers, and deprived them of literary prizes and translation opportunities," he said.
