Interview with Violetta Tsitsiliani
Interview – Violetta Tsitsiliani
Translator, co-founder of the Language Project
Tell us about yourself and your background in translation.
I studied translation at the Ionian University. In 2009, after completing my studies, I got into subtitling and started doing technical translations. A few years later, in 2013, I felt the need to continue my studies and applied for the MA in Cultural Management offered by Panteion University. I’ve always enjoyed the various elements surrounding the profession: promotion, the cultural context, time and space management. Therefore, I decided to combine my management skills with my knowledge on translation and to launch this cultural initiative, aiming to prove that working with language is fun and has the potential to attract people, just like theatre, dance or music.
What exactly is “The Language Project” and what type of activities have been implemented so far?
For the Language Project team, language is not a means to a goal, but rather the goal itself. The Language Project is a cultural initiative, a living organism, a team with a purpose: to create a networking hub and provide a platform where language lovers can express themselves freely. Aiming to bring language and the people behind the words to the spotlight, we encourage everyone, both young and old, to learn a new language, to gain an understanding of the language industry and to see translation in a new light: as a process of co-creation and a game.
The Language Project is a globetrotter, and so are we; that’s why we prefer to place our activities in a geographical, rather than a chronological context. In Athens, we organised a seminar that proved to be a great challenge for our team: during our Cooperative Translation Workshop (“Introduction to German through translation”), we used cooperative translation as a tool for learning. Goethe-Institut Athen supported our initiative by granting us the use of its gorgeous library for the seminar. In Thessaloniki, we organised three sessions during the 13th Thessaloniki International Book Fair, under the auspices of PEEMPIP, the Hellenic Foundation for Culture, the Goethe-Institut Thessaloniki and the Institut français de Thessalonique: in “The Transparent Translator” with translator Ioanna Bati, the audience had the opportunity to experience translation as a process of momentary creation and as an open discussion; in the “Translation Slam”, moderated by Tasos Ioannidis, translators Christina Papantoni and Despoina Lamprou drew their intellectual “swords” in the translation battle field and ultimately our love for translation prevailed! Finally, I took part in an open discussion with author and translator Daniel Hahn, aka the King of Slams, and Kleopatra Elaiotriviari on “Literary translation and cultural management”. In Corfu, we organised a Subtitling workshop with the support of the Ionian University. The films that were subtitled during the workshop were screened during the 10th Audiovisual Arts Festival, which also hosted our most recent project, the “Comics Translation Seminar”. On Saturday 28 May, in the context of the Festival of Multilingualism, we presented our collaborative video that raises awareness for multilingualism, in which 15 people talk about their experience and love for languages in 15 different languages (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MM6Zlr_x-zM).
How did you come up with the idea for the Language Project and how did you begin your collaboration with other actors and with your sponsors?
The Language Project is basically a group of friends and former classmates, who nowadays work in the language industry, in various cities in and outside of Greece: Athens, Corfu, Elefsina, Thessaloniki, Ptolemaida, Barcelona, Malaga. As you can see, our project is nomadic; it travels with us. Actually, it started travelling even before it was born. The idea was born in Tinos, grew up in Athens, got selected for the “stART – Create Cultural Change” programme, obtained supplies and collaborators in Germany and returned to Greece for its launch. Our next stops are Denmark and Norway, where we will present the outcome of our activities at two international conferences.
Our project was selected for funding among approximately 200 proposals under the “stART – Create Cultural Change” programme of the Robert Bosch Foundation, which is being implemented in collaboration with Goethe-Institut and Bundesvereinigung Soziokultureller Zentren e.V. (Federal Union of German Sociocultural Centres). More specifically, last July the Goethe Institut of Thessaloniki launched an open call for proposals. Candidates were asked to submit their ideas for a social initiative through culture to be implemented in Greece, along with a description and organisation plan.
In September, I travelled to Germany with 29 other Greeks to undertake job shadowing and training in some aspects of cultural management. The 12 projects that were selected out of the 30 short-listed candidates received financial and professional support to begin implementation by May 2016. I personally believe that this programme was a once in a lifetime experience and I heartily recommend it to anyone who is passionate about culture, is an advocate for change in our country and has nerves of steel, patience (!) and management skills.
People are beginning to understand that interpreters and translators are not the same thing. They are also learning that machine translation cannot substitute the human brain and that our profession is a field of study and not just a part-time job for people who speak a foreign language and are looking to make some extra cash.
What lies ahead for the project and what is its key legacy?
The project will go on, adding new activities and regions to its portfolio. Lately we have been skyping non-stop to discuss and set our goals going forward. If you have the right collaborators and the right attitude, anything can happen!
I believe that the key legacy of our project is showcasing a new aspect of language. Language is not boring; its a living organism, which can rally people together and forge new bonds. By working with language, we bring about both cultural and social change. We have stayed in touch with most of the participants, becoming friends and exchanging ideas in the process. Another important aspect is the recognition of our profession. People are beginning to understand that interpreters and translators are not the same thing. They are also learning that machine translation cannot substitute the human brain and that our profession is a field of study and not just a part-time job for people who speak a foreign language and are looking to make some extra cash.
Do you believe that people’s perception of translation and translators has improved over the last years and in what way can initiatives such as yours contribute to this change?
When we started up, our main goal was to make translators more extroverted and to open up the profession to the world. Translators usually stay behind the scenes and rarely have the chance to talk about their work. In a recent discussion with King of Slams Daniel Hahn during the Thessaloniki International Fair, we talked about the translation profession and the need to open it up to the world. He started by saying that being a translator and translating is not the same thing. When we’re stuck at home struggling to meet a deadline, we’re translating. However, when we enter the job market, we open up, we talk about our work and the way we do it. Some examples of this could be participating in exhibitions, writing articles, teaching, and coming up with innovative ideas to promote our profession, such as Translation Slams. The 13th International Book Fair of Thessaloniki that took place last month was a good start. For the first time in the history of the Fair, there was a special pavilion dedicated to translation, thanks to the combined efforts of PEEMPIP, the Aristotle University, and the Hellenic Foundation for Culture.
How can one participate in the Language Project?
Anyone can contact us with a new idea. We will then work on it together as a team and create a new event! You can also respond to our open calls in future events and contribute to FoodForYourFridayThoughts, our online blogging platform. Every Friday, we invite our readers to write in any language they feel comfortable with on a topic related to language, communication, learning or anything else they wish (http://thelanguageproject.eu/blog/). Finally, we are happy to welcome new members to our network, which brings together people who are interested in language in all its forms. Members can create a personal profile with a short CV, their contact links and a photograph. And since we love social media, you can always find us on our facebook page, twitter, instagram or sign up for our newsletter to receive all our latest news! Simple as that.