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Translating for pilgrims in Saudi Arabia : a matter of quality
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Abstract:
Every year, multitudes of Muslims visit Saudi Arabia to perform one of the most important Islamic rituals, the Hajj (pilgrimage). During the Hajj, which takes place in the last month in the Islamic calendar, Ḏū al-Ḥijjah, approximately three to four million pilgrims gather and move in a limited area (at and around the Holy Mosque, in Mecca) and for a limited time (a few days for the obligatory rituals, but up to a few weeks for optional visits and activities). In addition to this annual event, thousands of religious visitors arrive in Mecca and Medina throughout the year, especially during the month of Ramadan. They travel to the two holy cities to perform Umrah (the optional pilgrimage to the Kaaba, in Mecca), pray at the Prophet Muhammad’s Mosque, and visit his tomb and other religious sites at Medina. It goes without saying that these large numbers of pilgrims require various community services, including transport, healthcare, safety awareness, accommodation, legal and administrative advice and so on. Naturally, given the different nationalities and languages that are represented, these and other services cannot be effectively provided without translation and interpreting services. Saudi authorities have made laudable efforts to improve Hajj services and the pilgrim experience. A number of construction, expansion, and renovation projects (e.g. the multilevel Jamarat Bridge and circumambulation space around the Kaaba) have been undertaken to reduce overcrowding hazards and make Hajj rituals more comfortable. Ambitious transport projects have been completed or are in progress (e.g. Makkah Mass Rail Transit and Haramain High Speed Rail). A number of disease control and prevention measures have been implemented, including continuous monitoring of local and international health hazards, health requirements for Hajj and Umrah visas, and healthcare advice and services before and during visitation. These and other improvements have been complemented with awareness-raising initiatives such as TV and radio programmes that specifically address Hajjrelated issues, as well as flyers, road signs, and illuminated panels that display information and advice. Institutions such as the Hajj Research Institute (Umm Al-Qura University) have also contributed to understanding the needs of pilgrims and improving Hajj services by undertaking Hajj-focused research in diverse areas such as administration, humanities, environment, health, architecture, engineering, information systems, and communication. However, although developments in infrastructures, logistics, and public services are impressive, it appears that the same cannot be said about communication with pilgrims. Little research has been conducted on interpreting and translation services during this large-scale annual event, but the few studies available as well as anecdotal evidence suggest that the current offering is still far from covering the needs of pilgrims or meeting quality standards. In this chapter, we discuss written translations with a view to exploring these issues. Specifically, we focus on translations provided for English-speaking pilgrims. Twelve samples of translated materials, randomly collected from different Saudi pilgrim services, are analysed qualitatively to establish the extent to which they meet basic quality standards such as content accuracy, grammatical and lexical appropriateness, functional equivalence, cohesion, and clarity of meaning. Before proceeding however, it is worthwhile to contextualise our subsequent analysis and commentary with a brief discussion of translation for pilgrims in terms of its community-oriented (public service) dimension, and the situation of Hajj-related translation and interpreting services in Saudi Arabia.
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Keyword:
200323 - Translation and Interpretation Studies; 950201 - Communication Across Languages and Culture; Arabic language; pilgrims and pilgrimages; Saudi Arabia; translating and interpreting
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URL: http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/uws:33882
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An optimality-theoretic analysis of syllable structure in Qassimi Arabic
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In: Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations (2015)
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Teaching Arabic through communicative language teaching approaches informed by new understandings of literacy in primary schools in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia
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Online communication in a discussion forum for expatriate Saudi Arabian students: gender issues
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Madini, Abeer Ahmed. - : The University of Queensland, School of Languages and Comp Cultural Studies, 2012
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Legal translation in Saudi Arabia : a contrastive analysis of linguistic challenges encountered by practitioners
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