How Emirates Employed Translation to Promote Positive Political Correctness

       Language is one of the main pillars of human civilization, since it is the common communication medium. Yet, language is not only used for communication. It rather expresses our thoughts and beliefs, and even more shapes them. While choosing certain words represents the surface level of communication to deliver specific meanings, there are also hidden messages within the deeper levels of the communicative process.

Nowadays, it is not uncommon to hear the expression “Political Correctness” everywhere around us and in whatever context. The term originally appeared after the Russian Revolution in 1917 to describe people who abide by the policies of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, According to Encyclopedia Britannica. Over time, the pragmatic usage of the term developed a lot till it reached its current meaning. Political correctness is now used to denote the descriptive language used to refer to specific groups of people who have external markers, like race of cultural origins, in a non-offensive way.

A very important example to consider in this regard is how the Government of Emirates (UAE) employed Arabic Translation to promote positive political correctness and help in raising public awareness and acceptance in relation to people with disabilities.

In English language, the best that could be done regarding the reference to people with disabilities was to formulate expressions and terms like ‘Disabled, Impaired, Handicapped, or Persons with Special Needs’. Yet, all such expressions still provided negative connotations in relation to people with disabilities.

In 2017, the Government of Emirates (UAE) coined the Arabic term “أصحاب الهمم”, which literally means in English “People with Positive Attitudes”, to refer to people with disabilities. According to the state statements, the term was coined to eliminate any possible negative connotations related to disabilities. The term does not only eliminate the negative connotations, it even reshapes the image of people with disabilities within the minds of the public, by referring to them as people who challenge their disabilities by having a positive attitude to overcome the difficulties in their lives.

This shows us such a little twist in the use of language and translation can help make the world a better place and enhance the quality of our lives.

References:

• https://www.britannica.com/topic/political-correctness
• https://www.pchr.gov.ae/ar/priority-details/persons-with-disabilities#:~:text=%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%BA%D8%AA%20%D8%AD%D9%83%D9%88%D9%85%D8%A9%20%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%84%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A9,%D8%B9%D8%AF%D9%85%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A9%20%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89%20%D8%A5%D8%AD%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B2%20%D8%AA%D9%82%D8%AF%D9%85.