THE VISIBLE TRANSLATOR: IDENTIFYING NORMS IN THE TRANSLATIONS OF EDWARD SAID’S ORIENTALISM

ABSTRACT A sizable number of studies have examined various aspects of translation norms. Yet, these studies mainly focus on the theoretical aspect of norms, while neglecting the complementary aspect. This thesis sets out to study the complementary aspect of norms. It builds upon Toury’s model of norms by providing a methodology to identify norms in Arabic translations. Norms are defined as the general values shared in a society regarding what is right or wrong, acceptable or unacceptable. They should be understood as an explanatory tool, not simply as a prescriptive tool. Examining norms as an explanatory tool requires investigating the issue of the agency of the translator. Translators’ agency can direct the translation process and can also be led by norms dominating the culture in which translations are generated. This thesis examines the Arabic translations by Kamal abu Deeb and Mohammed Enani of Edward Said’s Orientalism. The cultural scene in the Arabic world, where the translations were produced, encompasses different ideologies that can be reflected in literary works, including translations. Additionally, in some regions, religion can play a guardian-like role as a point of reference upon which authorities rely to monitor different forms of cultural borrowings. This thesis exposes the influence of the norms driven by ideology and religion on the translations of Orientalism. It does so by applying a textual method, as suggested by Toury, which observes regular translational behaviour. This method relies on the pragmatic notion of implicature and Grice’s maxims of conversation to trace the changes in the meaning between the source and target texts

Adopting Quranic Intertextuality in the Translation of Canonical Literature: A Lexical & Rhetorical Take on Intertextuality

The present paper suggests that the Quranic language is a source of rhetoric and eloquence, contributing to a more elevated translation of English classics. Hence, the paper identifies some of the linguistic and stylistic features of the Holy Quran at the rhetorical and lexical levels that can be utilized in translation in the form of either implicit or explicit intertextuality. The researchers apply this proposed translation approach to selected parts of a 19th-century novel, namely Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. The method used to assess the success of this approach was to present the translated excerpts using lexical and rhetorical intertextuality against Helmy Murad’s published translation of the novel. The excerpts were then evaluated by a jury of judges comprising nine experts specialized in translation, linguistics, English literature, and Arabic literature in order to provide their input and evaluation on a Likert scale. The statistical analysis of jury responses suggests that the researchers’ translation was fairly successful in general, scoring an average of 4.35 and 4.30 out of 5.00 for the rhetorical and lexical intertextuality respectively. The paper concludes that Quranic intertextuality can be applied to texts selectively depending on several considerations as part of other strategies rather than on its own account. The researchers also recommend conducting further studies on the Quranic style and expressions that can be utilized in the translation of various types of canonical literature, whether prose or verse

Īlāf Badr al-Dīn: ʿIndama hatafū “li-l-abad”. Lughat al-thawra al-sūriyya (When They Chanted "Forever": The Language of the Syrian Revolution), Damascus: Mamdūḥ ʿAdwān 2018.

Since this is a book review, I don't think an abstract is required.</p

Literary theory and its role in modern and contemporary criticism: A critical approach

This research aims to identify the relationship between the concepts of "literary theory" and "literary criticism"; as a crisis was formed in reaching an agreement between the critics on defining the concept of these terms. Thus, the research seeks to identify these two terms and examine their implications in the modern literary lesson. The research takes an analytical and investigative approach based on how to use terms, understand them and apply them in research writing. The research has found that there is a discrepancy in the use of terms and their understanding and invocation in research writing. These terms came to us from Europe, which took them from the Greek and Latin cultures. The research concludes that there is a difference between critics and writers during the literary study about basic concepts, which requires them to go through them by definition, commentary, and deduction, such as the concept of literature itself, creativity, reception, criticism, literary history, literary schools, and others

A Critical Discourse Analysis of Translators’ Narratives Affecting Two Translations of the Same Text: A Case Study of <i>Orientalism</i>

The present study set out to examine the translations of Edward Said’s Orientalism in light of narrative theory. The paper uses critical discourse analysis to examine the different narratives produced by two different Arabic translations of Orientalism, written originally in English. The first translation was produced by Kamal Abu Deeb in 1980, and a later one was carried out by Mohammad Enani in 2006. Our findings demonstrate two competing narratives of two cultures standing in opposition to one another, with each translation implying that one of these civilizations is unique and inherently competitive with “the other” culture