Dr. Maya El Hajj, Associate Professor and Chairperson of the Department of English and Translation at Notre Dame University- Louaize, was a keynote speaker at the Universitad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon (UANL) - Facultad de Filosofia y Letras- Mexico in a talk on Translation and Interpretation and their importance as majors worldwide.
In her talk, Dr. El Hajj drew a comparative analysis between the Eastern and Western cultures and their impact on Translation. She also highlighted how culture in general shapes the context of language; sometimes, the same words used across two different cultures can have slight or radically different meanings, and a translator needs to account for all the nuances to maintain the integrity of the meaning and the text.
She also pinpointed how main ideas in texts can change because of the translation process and how the translator should shift mindsets to think from the perspective of the language being translated. An interactive and lively discussion followed the presentation where attendees shared their interest in this topic and in the new translation strategies presented.
The conference took place online on Wednesday October 27th at 10.30 am Mexico time and 6.30 pm Beirut time and will was displayed Live on the official Facebook account of UANL, Mexico.