Introduction
UNITED IN DIVERSITY... THANKS TO TRANSLATION Multilingualism is one of the EU’s greatest strengths. Languages are more than a communication tool: they are an essential expression of identity and culture. As such, the linguistic diversity of Europe is crucial to its cultural richness, and acts as the cornerstone of the EU’s motto, ‘united in diversity’. Translation plays a strategic role in Europe’s cultural development. It allows for the passage of ideas, knowledge and cultural expressions between different languages and cultures, and thus contributes to a stronger shared knowledge among European citizens of their history, their creations and their shared concerns. In doing this, translation also helps to preserve the specificity and functionality of languages, and to enhance their richness and complexity – if an author or creator has their work translated, they can continue to write in their mother tongue without feeling obliged to resort to another language in order to access a wider audience. Translation therefore not only contributes to the promotion of cultural diversity, but allows for equality of cultural exchange. It is for these reasons that translation, which helps to keep languages ‘in use’, is one of the cornerstones of multilingualism policy, along with language learning. In addition, by allowing non-native speakers to engage with works from other countries and cultures, translation plays an important role in promoting social and cultural inclusion and European integration. Furthermore, engaging with translation as a craft is, in itself, a learning tool for languages, literature and culture. From an economic point of view, the stakes are also high. Translation, dubbing and subtitling are the only ways for European cultural and creative works (books, films, theatre plays, etc.) to travel across linguistic barriers and take advantage of a much larger audience across Europe (with its 500 million+ inhabitants) and beyond.
THE NEED FOR EVOLUTION AND PUBLIC SUPPORT Recent years have seen a decline in the range of languages offered for study at university level in many European countries, which has a negative effect on the number of qualified literary translators, particularly of lesser-used languages (1). Another key issue is the need for substantial improvement in the working conditions of translators
1
Throughout the report, the terms ‘lesser-used’ and ‘smaller’ are used to describe languages that are considered less widely spoken and disseminated in Europe. The terms are usually applied to all languages spoken in Europe except English, French, German and Spanish.
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