Pakistan/Islamabad: Renown Pakistani university teacher and state translator-cum-interpreter Dr. Lubna Farah has supervised an M. Phil thesis on Short Stories of Sanaa Shaalan in Pakistan, while the topic was selected to be main theme of one specialized dissertation for the Translation Studies because she has passion for the Arabic literature and translation in diverse languages.
The said thesis was written by Habiba Abdullah and presented in the Arabic department of the NUML. It critically analyses selected excerpts from one of the most famous short stories collections of Sanaa Shaalan (He Who Stole a Star).
It is worth mentioning that Sanaa Shalan is a Jordanian contemporary writer, who writes novels, short stories, drama, and children’s literature. She is considered one of the most successful contemporary Arab women writers and has obtained the Peace Star for the year 2014 from the Peace and Friendship International Organization besides a number of local, regional and international awards in different genres of fiction.
Dr. Lubna Farah is currently serving as Assistant Professor in the Translation Studies department of the National University of Modern Languages (NUML) in Islamabad. She has performed duties as the state translator-cum-interpreter for the President and Prime Minister of Pakistan besides the visiting Arab dignitaries for the Arab world. She is the translator who pioneered translation of Pakistani Urdu television drama, soap serials and documentaries into the Arabic language while a number of these dramas have been telecast by Arab television channels.
Dr. Lubna has an experience spanning for more than 25 years in the translation, interpretation and its teaching at the university level. She has translated three books related to the basics of translation studies from English into other languages as she is quite well conversant in six languages: Arabic, English, Persian, Urdu, Pashto and Punjabi.
Furthermore, Dr. Lubna is considered driving force behind the translation studies department of the NUML who is currently supervising another Ph.D. related to the translation studies titled (Equivalence, Domestication and Foreignization in the Novels of Alaa Al-Aswany, translated into the English Language: The Yacoubian Building, as a Specimen) by AbdulBari Awais as she has already supervised M. Phil and Ph.D. theses related to the same field.
As a matter of fact, such theses and research papers should be appreciated and encouraged in the Pakistani and Arab universities because these may play a dynamic role in bringing the peoples of brotherly countries close together. There is no doubt that still a lot has to be done to promote educational cooperation between the Muslim countries and this type of dissertations would prove a foundation for the future.
