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Sandhaanu English translation 'might give a distorted view' from an email
'Your recent translations of articles from Sandhaanu are no exception. I read the "Dark shadows fall across the lives of political party promoters" very carefully, and compared it with the original in Sandhaanu. You did a good job at translating it for the most part, and without your work I would have found it tough going with all the Arabic borrowed words peppered throughout the original. 'What concerns me though is what you have left out, and how the English translation might give a distorted view to outsiders of the nature of some of the political opposition in the Maldives. To be specific, the writer of the article is very much motivated by a desire to see Maldives governed in terms of a purer form of Islam. 'At one point, he makes a very anti-Semitic remark by comparing President Gayoom unfavorably with the Jews when he writes that the way the Jews and he are virtually the same in how they approach justice ("...yahoodheennakee vakihamatakeh gengulheybaeh nooneve." pg. 2, column 1, para. 3). However, in the English translation you provide it reads, " Mean tricky men like him don't have principles." 'More importantly the translation is only partial and fails to include Sandhaanu's religious motivation which reflects a strong Islamic fundamentalist tilt. Consider this disturbing comment from Sandhaanu (please pardon my rough translation): "Because of this, it is our responsibility to watch the deeds of our leaders especially. To be specific, if they have become morally perverse, then they will corrupt the whole country. If the leader of the country has become dissolute, then it is our duty to start a religious holy war (dheenee bodu jihaadeh) to remove him from his position." (pg. 3, middle column, bottom). 'The vitriolic writer in Sandhaanu expresses his/her opinion clearly in the original, but the full force of the religious nature of his opinion is under-represented on your web-site, in my opinion. (I find Sandhaanu's position very disturbing because I think his/her line of reasoning can lead to even greater problems of the type so prevalent in Afghanistan under the Taliban.) 'I realize you can't translate everything, and have to make editorial choices. I do think, however, that care must be taken to give an accurate picture of the changes that are underfoot in the Maldives. The country faces many challenges, and all of us who love the country want to see them overcome for the good of all. Thanks again for making so much valuable information available to the world at large. I hope this critique is helpful. Editors reply: Your criticism is valid. In part, our Sandhaanu translation decisions were based on the knowledge that our Maldivian readers would be well aware of the full content of the Sandhaanu articles, but in the process we may have neglected the interests of our non-Dhivehi readers. There were time constraints and personal preferences involved as well. Regarding the anti-Semitic slur on President Gayyoom, we found it unnecessarily offensive, and attempted to give the full sense of the insult without involving innocent parties. The people writing Sandhaanu, (and the Gayyoom regime when it is communicating in Dhivehi), often use strongly conservative Islamist language and imagery, and although we began these translations before the Arab attack on New York and Washington, we wanted to highlight the basis of the Sandhaanu writers' grievances with the Gayyoom regime, without allowing their religious ideology to perhaps excite a foreign reader's prejudices. In hindsight, more of the religious language should have been included, and future translations from Sandhaanu will be more complete. |
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Maldives Culture is an independent internet magazine of Maldivian cultural issues.
Editors and translators: Michael O'Shea and Fareesha Abdulla, Australia
We invite contributions from Maldivians and others interested in Maldives.
Contributions and comments - mc_editors@hotmail.com
