FIT Council Meeting in Budapest. The international organization of translators in the service of translation

Abstract

The Fédération Internationale des Traducteuxs, FIT, was established from six national organisations of translators in Paris in 1953. Presently it has 33 member associations: 24 from Europe, 2 from Asia, 1 from Australia, the others from North and South America. Hungary is represented by the section of literary translators within the Federation of Hungarian Writers. The FIT - according to its aims - wants to group literary and scientific-technical translators into one camp; to represent the moral and material interests of translators on a world-scale; to fight for recognition and appreciation of translation as independent activity. In this work it is supported by UNESCO, having within same the status of an international non-governmentai organization of category "A".
The Congress, the highest organ of FIT, is convened generally every third year, partly to perform the duties listed in the Statutes, partly to discuss professional and practical problems of translators and translations in order to represent socially the translator profession. Till now it was convened seven times, the VII. World Congress of Translators was held in Nice, 1974. Representatives of the Hungaian scientific translation regularly participate in these congresses. The Congress elects the Council, the latter - from its members - the Executive Committee. Particular problems are dealt by special committaes and working committeee. The FIT governing bodies were - partly understandably partly gratuitously - criticized during and after the last Congress. Analyzing the two decades of FIT's activity, however, could be stated that - in spite of some internal and structural contradictions - it fulfils well the main tasks: the world-wide joining of translators and the international representation of translation problems.
The FIT Council held its annual meeting in Budapest, April this year. This was the first occasion when a FIT body organized a meeting in Hungary. The main topics of the agenda - among others - were analysis of the outcomes of the last Congrees; assignment of the present tasks; the periodical BABEL; preparation of the next World Congress in 1977. It is desired that problems concerning the social organization and repreaentation of the Hungarian translators be solved until the next Congress.