Date of Graduation
12-2016
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies (PhD)
Degree Level
Graduate
Department
Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies
Advisor/Mentor
DuVal, John T.
Committee Member
Alrubaye, Adnan A.
Second Committee Member
Adams, Charles H.
Keywords
Language; literature and linguistics; Palestinian fiction; Translators
Abstract
This study examines the translators’ invisibility in postcolonial translated Palestinian fiction. On one hand, this analysis revolves around the ethical stance of translators towards authors in a postcolonial theoretical framework. On the other, it brings postcolonial translation scholars’ approaches into practice and examination. Therefore, this study provides a critical analysis of reading novels in translation as both a channel of decolonization from Oriental and imperial discourses and an aesthetic catalyst for freedom in exile, specifically translated by Trevor LeGassick, Elizabeth Fernea, Salma Jayyusi, Adnan Haydar, and Roger Allen. The intriguing paradox of the translator’s invisibility is inherent in the contradiction between an invisible and a visible translator. If the translator is invisible, he translates in a fluent, transparent language spinning the illusion that the translation is the original. If the translator is visible, he/she uses translation as a means of resistance against the hegemonic Anglo-American readership practice of fluency and transparency through a preservation of the difference between cultures. I argue that the way out of such contradiction or binary opposition is to review translation in terms of whether it matches the original in all its intents and purposes, preserves and/or mediates between cultures, while also being aware of the original works’ socio-political and ideological environment in order to ascertain what choices best serve the decolonizing translation of Third World literatures. Although this study does not argue against theory per se, an incorporation of the work’s socio-political context best serves the decolonizing reading of a translation. The study further shows that the translator’s choice to maintain the decolonizing reading is affected by any alteration of the authorial or narrative voices.
Citation
Malkawi, M. N. (2016). Twice Heard, Paradoxically (Un)seen: Walking the Tightrope of Invisibility in Palestinian Translated Fiction. Graduate Theses and Dissertations Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/1769