thesilkroadtoday
Cairo – The television program “The Bridge”, broadcast live every Sunday at 5:00 p.m., hosts translator, poet, novelist, and traveler Dr. Ashraf Aboul-Yazid in an episode highlighting his multifaceted literary and cultural experience and the role of translation in building bridges of communication among peoples and civilizations.
The episode explores the career of Dr. Ashraf Aboul-Yazid, whose experience brings together writing, travel, journalism, and cultural work. He has made translation an integral part of his literary and intellectual project, inspired by his belief that literature transcends linguistic and geographical borders, and that translation enables texts to travel from one culture to another while carrying with them their spirit, imagery, and distinctive civilizational identity.
The interview highlights part of Aboul-Yazid’s work in translating literature and poetry from diverse Asian and Eurasian cultures into Arabic, with particular interest in Russian, Chinese, Mongolian, and other literary traditions. In several of his translation projects, he has relied on English as an intermediary language for bringing texts into Arabic, drawing on a literary approach that goes beyond the literal transfer of words and seeks to convey the meaning, beauty, rhythm, and cultural context of the original work.
The episode focuses on three of his most prominent recent translation projects, reflecting the breadth of his engagement with diverse literatures and cultures:
- “Russian Cosmism: Memory” by Russian poet Dr. Alexandra Ochirova, a work that opens a window onto poetic reflections on memory, humanity, and the universe.
- “The Epic of Eurasia” by Chinese poet Cao Shui, a poetic journey that evokes the vast Eurasian space, its civilizational and human diversity, as well as its roots and myths.
- “My Homeland” by Mongolian poet Dashdorjin Natsagdorj, one of the prominent figures of Mongolian literature, in a translation that recalls the profound connection between poetry, homeland, identity, and cultural memory.
The episode also sheds light on Dr. Ashraf Aboul-Yazid’s vision of translation as a cultural act that goes beyond transferring texts. For him, translation becomes a means of bringing peoples closer together, preserving literary memory, and enabling Arab readers to discover creative experiences rooted in different linguistic and civilizational spheres.
The interview comes within the mission of “The Bridge” program to introduce cultural and intellectual experiences that contribute to strengthening intercultural dialogue and to highlight the role of literature and translation in creating shared spaces for human understanding.
Episode Team
Prepared by: Dalia El-Hilali – Reham Ragab
Presented by: Hassan El-Shazly
Executive Director: Rabab Khaled
Directed by: Moamen El-Masry
Broadcast: Sunday, 5:00 p.m.
