When war erupts amidst a budding project, you learn to unearth beauty in unexpected places. For our team, this meant discovering that translation could serve as an anchor in chaos. The timing of our internship at ETIB (École de Traducteurs et d'Interprètes de Beyrouth) at Saint Joseph University of Beirut (USJ) proved significant; as our beloved Lebanon weathered the ravages of war, we worked fervently to preserve pieces of Lebanese heritage for our youngest generation. Under the thoughtful guidance of Dr. Claude Wehbé Chalhoub and through SIT (Service Interprétation et Traduction), our team of four Master students undertook the translation of Tania Saleh's latest album "Child's Play" (لعب ولاد زغار), which was released on November 11th.
With the project set in motion, our quartet found its rhythm naturally: as M3 students, we shouldered the English translations, while our M1 colleagues Léa el Kattar and Mayssam el Barazi crafted the French versions. Eleven songs, each carrying the familiar warmth of our Lebanese dialect, trusted us with their journey into new tongues. In fact, our translations were meant to accompany both Saleh's music videos as subtitles and grace the pages of her hand-drawn coloring book, a labor of love crafted by her own artistic touch. The four of us rolled up our sleeves and spent several weeks reimagining Saleh's Arabic lyrics. This project offered the perfect opportunity to put theory into practice and channel the wealth of knowledge we had acquired during our Master program at ETIB. For two months, we collectively worked on a song or two per week and forwarded them to Dr. Chalhoub who would add her own suggestions and remarks. Upon agreement, our quartet would have a Zoom meeting on a weekly basis led by Dr. Chalhoub, where we overview both English and French translations, leading to the finalized versions that would be submitted to Ms. Saleh. We made sure that each chosen word evoked the essence of Lebanon—its spirit, its texture, its sweetness—so that, even from distant shores, children might feel its presence as though it were close enough to touch.
In spite of the difficult events that surrounded us with uncertainty, the end result of the project was crowned with success, a testimony to perseverance and hard work. Not only did Ms. Saleh approve of our work, but she also expressed her gratitude for keeping her work authentic be it in French or in English. As the long-awaited peace finally prevailed in our dear country, the project was concluded with a lunch gathering the four of us, Ms. Saleh, Dr. Chalhoub and our professors Dr. Mary Yazbeck, Head of the Translation Department, and Dr. Gina Abi Fadel Saad, Dean of the Faculty of Languages and Translation. A lively discussion ensued as we were getting to know the artist more, as well as her vision and what motivated her to launch this fruitful project. As our get-together was drawing to an end, Ms. Saleh thoughtfully offered us customized signed copies of the finalized book, in which we had the honor to see our names. Her message said, “may your inner child always be happy and inspired!”, reflecting our long but worthwhile journey in the deep seas of childhood innocence and playfulness.
Nour Manasseh & Anna-Maria Awad
M3 – English Section