Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation launches Armenian translation series

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Armenian Communities Department of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation is launching a translation series, which aims to make seminal texts in the humanities and the social sciences available in Armenian, as well as to make significant Armenian texts accessible in other languages, Asbarez reports.

The “Calouste Gulbenkian Translation Series” will focus on texts from the late 19th century to the contemporary period. It will cover four areas of translations:

• Foreign Languages into Armenian, the focus will be on translating canonical social science/humanities texts which have not been translated into Armenian, primarily from European languages. A wide range of fields will be considered based on their (inter)disciplinary impact.

• Armenian into Foreign Languages, the focus will be on translating texts from current significant debates within the Armenian world, once again primarily into European languages.

• Turkish into Armenian, the focus will be on translating a selection of contemporary Turkish social and political thought, preferably in the form of edited anthologies.

• Armenian into Turkish, the same approach as above will be employed, providing translations of major debates within Armenia and the diaspora.

The translations may be in Eastern or Western Armenian, depending on the availability of translators. The initiative aims to make texts available to scholars and students principally in Armenia to facilitate the advancement of intellectual discourse.

This initiative will also contribute to the modernization of the Armenian language, incorporating into it new vocabulary, and increase the pool of translators into and out of Armenian. We will develop and disseminate tools and resources, as well as consider supporting training schemes for translators.

The “Calouste Gulbenkian Translation Series” will launch a dedicated webpage that will offer electronic versions of the translations (wherever possible), translations of new terminologies, discussions of translational issues, resources and opportunities for translators and publishers, as well as regular news about the development of the initiative.