The cultural dimension of any revolution is inseparable from the material one. It is also a necessity for the reinvention of political reality that revolutions invariably aim to. And thus is the case in Syria, where culture has become a parallel battleground for competing narratives on the revolution. In this parallel conflict, the written word regains its prominence over brute force, as a historical document of its era and a foundational base for the future.
The genesis of the Free Syrian Translators movement is firmly founded on these assumptions. Since its inception in September 2011, the association has worked tirelessly to “translate into Arabic scores of scholarly articles and studies from international newspapers and research centers, as well as documentary films.” The association has also translated select documentaries and footage from Arabic into foreign languages.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRsqrTp3MKY
Since the early days of the revolution a growing disparity became apparent between the abundance of scholarly and intellectual work on Syria in international circles, and their impoverished counterparts in the Arab World. “Most of the articles and scholarly works published in foreign languages on the Syrian uprising never reach the average Syrian citizen, nor even the political activists,” notes a member of the association in an interview with SyriaUntold.
This disparity became a source of concern to several activists who formed a small group of volunteer translators in August 2011. The team of 14 translators set about translating their first work, BBC’s Panorama documentary, “Syria: Inside the Secret Revolution”.
Today the group boasts more than 30 volunteers between administrative and technical staff and different language teams. The spread of team members around the globe allows them to work on a continuous basis, and to respond quickly to any urgent translation requests without sacrificing the quality of the work. The topics and translation subjects are always under discussion between members, and a simple voting procedure is used to decide on the current priorities. The team, which operates in a largely flat structure, also requires unanimity of opinion when controversial content is concerned.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPIgfPBO5xc
The association’s website and Facebook page list thousands of articles, reports and documentaries translated into Arabic since the group started its work. The team also attempts to bring the voice of the revolution to the world at large by translating revolutionary pamphlets, campaigns and films from the revolution into other languages. This becomes especially important in shedding light on neglected innovators and bringing them to the world stage, like the documentary, “Coverage”, which was translated by the group after its director, Syrian-Palestinian Hassan Hassan, died under torture in regime custody.
The association is run on a volunteer basis and accepts no external funding. This is done, according to its members, in order to preserve its intellectual integrity and to allow to freely select material for translation. The small administrative costs are covered through donations and private paid translations.
The cultural battle that the Free Syrian Translators have positioned themselves in will certainly continue beyond the revolution. Their work today may be to uncover a false consciousness perpetuated by the regime for half a century, but their more important task, as with every cultural enterprise, is to help reshape the future outlook of Syrian culture.
