scholarly journals Semiotic alteration in translation. Othering, stereotyping and hybridization in contemporary translations from Arabic into Spanish and Catalan

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ovidi Carbonell i Cortés
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Cultural Translation ◽  
Foreign Culture ◽  
Arabic Fiction

It is already widely recognized that ‘foreignization’ is a cover word which stands for many different processes of cultural translation, from a problematic literalism which tends to exoticism, to a welcome but rarely achieved ‘othering’ understood as an ethical act of respect for the other ’s specificity. Seen from a pragmatic perspective, what still needs to be assessed are the reasons behind a hypothetic threshold of acceptability and the extent of the unstable and risky space where source culture expectations are challenged as a result of the translator ’s management of socio-cultural biases. Starting from the assumption that cultural translation implies a metonymical move by which key textual elements stand as symbols representing the foreign culture, the proposed article will present a scheme of the pragmatic and semiotic processes at work in translations from Arabic into Spanish and Catalan. A review of recent Spanish translations of contemporary Arabic fiction and the muchacclaimed Catalan translation of the Qur ’an will try to show that instances of hybridization and ambivalent readings occur foremost when semiotic categories are altered as a result of the familiarization of unexpected cultural referents. However, semiotic alteration only happens in the narrow margin allowed by the threshold of acceptability, which is the site of ambivalence.

scholarly journals Translation Shifts in Spatial and Temporal Deixis: A Trend Towards a More Subjective Narrative Mood in Fiction Translation

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
AWEJ for Translation & Literary Studies ◽  
Othman Ahmad Ali Abualadas
Keyword(s):  
Point Of View ◽  
The Other ◽  
Strong Tendency ◽  
Literary Works ◽  
Wuthering Heights ◽  
English Novel ◽  
Temporal Location ◽  
Mental Space ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Arabic Fiction

This study examines the translational deictic shifts in three Arabic translations of the English novel Wuthering Heights and the effect of this shift in the spatio-temporal point of view and stylistic features of the original. The study finds shift in spatial and temporal deixis that manifests a strong tendency towards increasing the ‘level of enunciation’ of narrators’ spatial and temporal location within the narrative. This shift brings the main narrator closer to the other characters in temporal, spatial, and mental space, hence increasing her involvement in events and empathy towards characters. At the same time, it distances the outside frame narrator, who has limited contact with characters, and increases his detachment and antipathy. In both cases more is revealed of narrator-character relationships and the narrator’s evaluations, leading to a more subjective narrative mood. It is hoped that the study will be applicable to different translated literary works to compare the findings and gain more understanding on the norms of English-Arabic fiction translation.

In Search of a Target Language

Target ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annie Brisset ◽  
Lynda Davey
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Working Classes ◽  
Exchange Value ◽  
Foreign Culture ◽  
The Social ◽  
Quebec French ◽  
Special Quality ◽  
The Difference

Abstract In nationalist Quebec, French is rejected as the bearer of a foreign culture in the same way that the Québécois' native land, despoiled by the English, has become the country of the Other. Theatre, more than anything else, lent itself to the task of differentiation allotted to language. As of 1968 the vernacular has become the language of the stage as well as of theatre translation such as the exchange value of both foreign works and French translations from France increasingly erodes. Translating "into Québécois" consists in marking out the difference which opposes French in Quebec and so-called French from France. Since, however, the special quality of Québécois French is truly noticeable only among the working classes, Québécois theatre translations are almost always marked by proletarization of language and lowering the social status of the protagonists, thereby increasing the translation possibilities first and foremost of American sociolects.

scholarly journals The Use of a Blog for the Development of Intercultural Communicative Competence: the case of Tunisian and American Students

2020 ◽  
Vol 88 ◽  
pp. 02011
Author(s):  
Nadia Abid ◽  
Asma Moalla ◽  
Iraj Omidvar
Keyword(s):  
Communicative Competence ◽  
The Other ◽  
Intercultural Communicative Competence ◽  
Communicative Skills ◽  
Intercultural Awareness ◽  
Foreign Culture ◽  
American Students ◽  
Culturally Different ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Students Satisfaction

This paper is a report on a three-month telecollaboration between two groups of students studying in ISEAH of Sbeitla in Tunisia and SPSU, Atlanta, GA, in the USA. By bringing together students from two culturally and linguistically different environments, the telecollaboration aims at helping them communicate interculturally and raise their intercultural awareness and understanding. By means of a blog, students exchanged, discussed, and compared information about their cultures in the form of stories of which they are the main characters. The telecollaboration was evaluated by means of a questionnaire inquiring about students’ satisfaction with the use of the blog, the knowledge they gained of the foreign culture, their attitudes toward it, and the intercultural communicative skills acquired. The findings revealed participants’ satisfaction with the use of the blog as a means of communication and intercultural learning. It was also found out that students’ development of intercultural communicative competence manifested in their knowledge of the other culture and people, a change in their attitudes towards them, an ability to communicate with culturally different people, and an increased awareness of themselves and the other group.

scholarly journals DYNAMICS OF LOCAL ISLAM: FATWA OF MUHAMMAD BASIUNI IMRAN, THE GRAND IMAM OF SAMBAS, ON THE FRIDAY PRAYER ATTENDED BY FEWER THAN FORTY PEOPLE

Al-Albab ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamka Siregar
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Local People ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Human Intelligence ◽  
Cultural Conditions ◽  
Foreign Culture ◽  
The Law ◽  
Friday Prayer

This article is an analitical work based on local Islam dynamic of Sambas society in the era of Sambas Sultanate. The work attempts to promote intellectual heritages such as the book of Cahaya Suluh, which could at least give us an idea that in a process of setting certain rules or istinbat, there is a need for flexibility. As can be observed from the whole argument built in this book, the process is completely flexible, not merely following one school of thought. As indicated in this paper, especially in the discussion of his thought, Muhammad Basiuni Imran used various references for his propositions. Although he was an advocate of the school of Syafi’i, he was still open to the other schools of thought. As a matter of fact, in the case of Friday prayer, his position was different from the school of thought he supported. He took that position because he considered the socio cultural conditions of Sambas at the time. Intellectual spirit shown by the Grand Imam of Sambas should continue to be emulated and expanded. It is a way to avoid the ‘blind’ taqlid against a certain school of thought, as such attitude can narrow human intelligence and reasoning which will eventually lead to collision with local reality that sometimes contains values that do not contradict with religion. In addition, the approach to the interpretation of law should look at its socio-cultural and historical background as this will keep the law strong and sustainable. In this way, Islam will be easily accepted without having to impose foreign culture on local people. Keywords: Dynamic, Islam, Sambas, Grand Imam, Muhammad Basuni Imran

scholarly journals Three Arabic Novels of Expatriation in the Arabian Gulf Region: Ibrāhīm Naṣrallāh’s "Prairies of Fever", Ibrāhīm ʿAbdalmagīd’s "The Other Place", and Saʿūd al-Sanʿūsī’s "Bamboo Stalk"

1970 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 85-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hani Elayyan
Keyword(s):  
Arab World ◽  
Arabian Gulf ◽  
The Other ◽  
Gulf Region ◽  
Arabian Gulf Region ◽  
Gulf Countries ◽  
Arabic Fiction ◽  
The One ◽  
Oil Revenues ◽  
Configura Tions

Once oil revenues started pouring in the Gulf region by the 1950s, many Arab citizens from Egypt and the Levant moved there for work. A number of Arab novels have delineated the expatriation experience and highlighted the discrepancy between the expats’ expectations of brotherhood, which emanated from their belief in the dominant pan-Arab ideology, and the reality of existence in societies that had social configura-tions that did not necessarily privilege Arab expats. This paper explores the perceived gap in the socio-political projects of the Gulf countries on the one hand, and the Levant and Egypt on the other. By compar-ing two novels by two Arab expat writers, Ibrāhīm Naṣrallāh’s Prairies of Fever and Ibrāhīm ʿAbdal-magīd’s The Other Place with a novel by a Gulf writer, Saʿūd al-Sanʿūsī’s Bamboo Stalk, this article argues that despite the pre- and postcolonial forces that have shaped Gulf Societies into a different cultural region, the project that Gulf novels engage in is similar to the rest of the Arab World, namely, nation state building, with increasing awareness of hyphenated identities and subaltern people.Key Words: Arabic Fiction, Arabian Gulf Writers, Realism, Nationalism, The Bamboo Stalk, Prairies of Fever, The Other Place.

Mistranslation of Three Cultural Signs: Rajm, Food, and Tayammum in Vambery’s Travels in Central Asia

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 420
Author(s):  
Ahmad Gholi
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Travel Writing ◽  
Cultural Translation ◽  
Home Culture ◽  
Terra Incognita ◽  
Foreign Culture ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Current Article ◽  
Cultural Baggage

Translation as a process of domesticating something alien is not restricted solely to linguistic domain; on the contrary, it can be extended to other arenas as well. For example, travel writing as an attempt to tame foreign culture and render it accessible for the audience in home culture, can be considered as a kind of cultural translation. When a travel writer enters into a new context (source culture), he encounters with signs which are radically different from those in his home culture. Hence, the travel writer is burdened to deforeignize hitherto unknown signs to render them familiar and consumable for his audience. Since the travel writer carries his cultural baggage which functions as a cultural filter, his cultural translation cannot be objective and free from cultural mistranslations, and as a result, the current article is going to focus on the cultural mistranslations in Arminius Vambery’s Travel to Central Asia. Thus, it argues that the travel writer in question in his journey to Central Asia which is a semi terra incognita in nineteenth century endeavors to translate the exotic aspects (foreign signs) of Central Asian culture; however, his cultural biases give rise to the cultural mistranslations in areas such as diet and religious punishment like stoning.

scholarly journals «Hvis de hadde oppført seg som vanlige nordmenn, hadde alt vært greit, tror jeg» — Nordmenns syn på årsaken til negative holdninger til jøder og muslimer

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vibeke Moe ◽  
Cora Alexa Døving ◽  
Irene Levin ◽  
Claudia Lenz
Keyword(s):  
Media Coverage ◽  
The Other ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Self Image ◽  
Foreign Culture ◽  
Middle East Conflict ◽  
Norwegian Population ◽  
Gender Education ◽  
Conspiracy Beliefs

This article explores contemporary images of Jews and Muslims in Norway by using qualitative empirical data, namely the answers to an open-ended question that was included in a quantitative survey on attitudes towards Jews and other minorities in Norway, conducted in 2012. The target group for the survey consisted of Norwegian residents aged 18 and above. A total of 1522 people answered the questionnaire. The results of the survey can be considered as representative of the Norwegian population with respect to age, gender, education and geographical distribution. Respondents were asked what they regarded to be the reasons for existing negative attitudes towards Jews and Muslims respectively. This article analyzes whether the perceptions reflected in the respondents’ answers represent stereotypical views and partly include traces of conspiracy beliefs. The article also discusses these perceptions within the broader perspective of Norwegian society, asking in which ways the data reflects ideas of inclusion and exclusion. The analysis exposes differences regarding traditional stereotypes and prejudices against the two minorities and the ways in which these prejudices are linked to (perceived) contemporary conflicts and tensions – both within Norwegian society and internationally. Negative attitudes towards Jews are often explained with reference to the role played by Israel in the Middle East conflict, and almost never with specific reference to Norwegian society. The material contains few examples describing Jews as scapegoats for current social problems in Norway. On the contrary, respondents’ answers indicate social distance. Approximately half of the answers claim that negative attitudes towards Jews are due to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The images of Jews presented in connection with this conflict are predominantly negative and characterized by topics such as oppression, ruthlessness and power. The analysis shows how these statements serve to reduce complexity by effectively equating “Jews” with “Israelis”. As a consequence Jews seem to be excluded from the notion of the Norwegian national collective. The statements about Muslims show that they are regarded to be citizens and as such part of Norwegian society, but with characteristics perceived as problematic and threatening. Respondents often connected negative attitudes towards Muslims with a “foreign culture”. Many statements describe Muslims as oppressive to women, as harboring undemocratic attitudes or as criminals. The data shows how people develop generalizations, describing something as “typically Muslim” or “typically Jewish”, reflecting current debates and media coverage. Such generalizations derive their strength from placing the speaker in a morally superior position. In the present material these attitudes represent the antithesis of an implicit notion of the Norwegian community as a liberal, egalitarian and peace-loving society. Despite the differences, a clear picture emerges that the characterizations of both Jews and Muslims seem to serve a common function: to provide a contrast to this national self-image. Such polarized notions of “us” and “them”, however, undermine the values generally constructed as “Norwegian”: when “the other” bears problematic features that we do not want to acknowledge in ourselves or our communities, we lose the ability to critically reflect on who we are. While maintaining an idealized notion of “us”, we become increasingly dependent on a rejection and denial of the “other”. 

scholarly journals POSTCOLONIAL ARABIC FICTION REVISITED: NATURALISM AND EXISTENTIALISM IN GHASSAN KANAFANI’S MEN IN THE SUN

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 238
Author(s):  
Shadi Saleh Neimneh
Keyword(s):  
Postcolonial Literature ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Palestinian Refugees ◽  
Making Choices ◽  
National Allegory ◽  
Ghassan Kanafani ◽  
Arabic Fiction ◽  
The One

This article looks into the postcolonial Arabic narrative of Ghassan Kanafani to examine its underplayed existential and naturalistic aspects. Postcolonial texts (and their exegeses) deal with the effects of colonization/imperialism. They are expected to be political and are judged accordingly. Drawing on Kanafani’s Men in the Sun (1963), I argue that the intersection among existentialism and naturalism, on the one hand, and postcolonialism, on the other, intensifies the political relevance of the latter theory and better establishes the politically committed nature of Kanafani’s fiction of resistance. In the novella, the sun and the desert are a pivotal existential symbol juxtaposed against the despicable life led by three Palestinian refugees. The gruesome death we encounter testifies to the absurdity of life after attempts at self-definition through making choices. The gritty existence characteristic of Kanafani's work makes his representation of the lives of alienated characters more accurate and more visceral. Kanafani uses philosophical and sociological theories to augment the political nature of his protest fiction, one acting within postcolonial parameters of dispossession to object to different forms of imperialism and diaspora. Therefore, this article explores how global critical frameworks (naturalism and existentialism) enrich the localized contexts essential to any study of postcolonial literature and equally move the traditional national allegory of Kanafani to a more realist/unidealistic level of political indictment against oppression. 

scholarly journals Yiddish, Treasure from a Vanished World. The Impossibility to Translate Yiddish Or the Cultural Limits of Translation

2021 ◽  
pp. 50-71
Author(s):  
Lucie Kaennel
Keyword(s):  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Literary Work ◽  
The Other ◽  
Jewish Tradition ◽  
Elie Wiesel ◽  
Isaac Bashevis Singer ◽  
Foreign Culture ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Other World ◽  
The Universe

By welcoming the other in his language and thus opening the door to an unknown universe, the translation must take up the challenge of otherness which rests on the capacity, beyond words, to be received in a foreign culture. What happens, in this case, when the culture of the language in question is that of a world that one sought to annihilate in an unspeakable catastrophe? It is in the light of Yiddish that I will deploy the two axes of my reflection on what, beyond translation as a passage from one language and from one culture to another, can ultimately account for the impossibility of rendering the language of the other, of another world. In the case of Yiddish, it is important to consider the mental universe it represents, the Yiddishland and the yiddishkayt. It is to paint the portrait of this now disappeared world, which is not on any world map, that I will apply myself firstly. In a second step, it will be necessary to question the very impossibility of translating Yiddish. With Isaac Bashevis Singer, who “retranslates” his own texts from Yiddish into English, and makes this English translation the matrix of translations into other languages. What happens between the first Yiddish original and the second English original of Singer’s works? Why this need to correct the English versions of his Yiddish texts? These questions raise issues about what Yiddish and the universe it stages represent for Singer: a past world, impossible to render in any other language, the “other world” which has now disappeared? And with Elie Wiesel, whose mother tongue is Yiddish, but who chooses French as the “language of writing”. Wiesel’s “first” work, La nuit, will form the matrix of his novels, built like a fresco in which the works respond to each other, in a Midrashic “infinite reading”. However, at the start of those novels is a story written feverishly and published in Yiddish, … a di velt hot geshvign. This Yiddish text is a cry of revolt and a testimony that the French version will confine to silence, La nuit becoming the very expression of silence. Faced with the impossibility of translating Yiddish, of accounting for the world carried by Yiddish, Wiesel constructs a literary work that will tell a story strewn with clues of this destroyed culture. Could it be, in the last instance, the hidden treasure of Jewish tradition which, precisely out of loyalty to Judaism, cannot be translated? This world which belongs to the Jews and of which they are the only heirs, at the risk of this heritage being lost, for lack of transmission? This questioning could illustrate a reflection on the limits of translation in the light of its cultural and spiritual issues.

Remaking national identity: Postcolonial discourses at the intersection of gender and race in Tutto può succedere

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 321-338
Author(s):  
Eleonora Sammartino
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Italian Society ◽  
The Other ◽  
Cultural Translation ◽  
Gender And Race ◽  
Italian Context ◽  
Interracial Relationship

In the context of global migrations, ‘new Italians’ have emerged in a group of mainstream TV series, among which Tutto può succedere (‘Anything can happen’) (RAI 1, 2015–18) stands out as the remake of the American Parenthood. This article argues that this process of cultural translation reveals tensions over the negotiation of national identity in Italian society, due to recent migrations and the submerged colonial past. Through the adoption of an intersectional approach, the analysis of the interracial relationship between Feven, an Eritrean-born woman, and Carlo will highlight that the postracial discourses underlying Parenthood are superseded by postcolonial ones in the remake. I demonstrate that the Othering of Feven through sexualization and exoticization exposes the persistence of colonial stereotypes. However, the displacement of race onto gender preoccupations through the prism of postfeminism highlights the attempted ‘normalization’ of the Other, further engaging with the specificities of the Italian context through its association with religion.

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