Mona Baker & Gabriela Saldanha. Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies (2nd edition)

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the1980s,thisviewwasincreasinglyrevisedasAmericantranslationstudies

continuedtodrawonconceptualdevelopmentsinseveraldisciplines,includinga

varietyofculturalandpoliticaldiscoursesthataremostlyEuropeaninorigin:

psychoanalysis,phenomenology,FrankfurtSchoolMarxism,Frenchfeminism,

poststructuralism.Inthesenewlinesofresearch,translationwasconsideredless

ascommunicationbetweenlanguagesandculturesthanasinterpretationthat

provisionallyfixesameaningintheforeignlanguagetextinaccordancewithan

interpretivetheory,culturalagendaandpoliticalstandpointinthedomestic

situation.Lessattentionwasgiventonotionsofequivalencethantothe

inevitablelinguisticandculturaldifferencesnegotiatedbythetranslator.The

changeinthedirectionofresearchcanbeglimpsedinTranslation

Perspectives,aseriesofoccasionalpaperspublishedsince1982bythe

TranslationResearchandInstructionProgramatSUNY(Binghamton)and

editedbyMarilynGaddisRose.Awatershedvolume,whichalsooriginatedina

conferenceatBinghamton,isGraham(1985),whichrepresentspost

structuraliststylesofthinking.

Sincethe1990s,astranslationbegantoemergeasascholarlydisciplineinits

ownright,tworatherdifferentparadigmsappeartobedrivingresearch.Onthe

onehandisanapproachthatcangenerallybecalledtextlinguistics,inwhich

notionsofequivalencearegroundedintheclassificationoftexttypesand

functions.Ontheotherhandisanapproachthatcangenerallybecalledcultural

studies,whichisconcernedwithhowvalues,ideologies,andinstitutionsshape

practicesdifferentlyindifferenthistoricalperiods.Itisthelatterapproachthat

seemstobestimulatingthemostinterest,attractingscholarsfromdisciplinesthat

havehithertoneglectedtranslation–despiteitsimportanceinAmericancultural

andpoliticalhistory.

Furtherreading

Pochmann1957;DeSua1964;Cunningham1967;Apter1987;Bowen1990;

ObstandCline1990;Cheyfitz1991;LecomteduNoüy1991;Lefevere

1992a,1992c,1993;Barnstone1993;Fowler1993;Gentzler1993;Payne

1993;May1994;NeubertandShreve1994;Venuti1995a;Baker1996a.

LAWRENCEVENUTI

Arabictradition

Arabicisasoutherncentralsemiticlanguagespokenbyalargepopulationin

theArabandIslamicworlds.ItoriginatedintheArabianPeninsulabutspread

farbeyondtheconfinesofitsbirthplacewiththeriseofIslamintheseventh

century.

PriortotheriseofIslamandtheconsolidationoftheArabnation,thevarious

peopleswhoinhabiteddifferentpartsoftheterritorynowknownastheArab

worldwereinmanycasesbilingual,speakingArabicineverydaycontextsand

usingavarietyoflanguagessuchasSyriacandAramaicfortradeandlearning

(Hitti1937:70ff.),especiallyasArabicdidnotdevelopawritingsystemuntil

almostthetimeoftheriseofIslam.Theywereofdifferentethnicbackgrounds

andfollowedverydifferentwaysoflife,varyingbetweenanomadic,tribal

existenceinthePeninsula(presentdaySaudiArabia,YemenandtheGulf

states)andasedentary,merchantcultureintheFertileCrescent(Syria,

Lebanon,IraqandPalestine).ThetribesinthePeninsulawerenotruledby

outsidepowers,whereastheinhabitantsofotherpartsfellundertheruleof

eithertheByzantineorSassanianEmpire.

TheriseofIslamintheseventhcenturyisthemostimportanteventinthehistory

oftheArabpeoples:itchangedthepolitical,culturalandlinguisticmapofthe

areaforever.ThespreadofIslambeganduringtheProphet’slifetimeand

gatheredphenomenalspeedafterhisdeathin632.By698,Iraq,Syria,Egypt

andNorthAfricahadbecomepartofthenewpoliticalandreligiousorder.At

theheightofitsexpansion,theIslamicEmpirestretchedfrompresentday

PakistantoSpain.

ThepoliticalhistoryoftheIslamicworldisrathercomplex,withtheseatof

empiremovingfromonecapitaltoanotherasdifferentdynastiesrosetopower,

andwithseveralcaliphatesattimesexistinginvariouspartsoftheworld.The

mostimportantperiodsandcaliphatesareasfollows:

♦theorthodoxperiodoftheearlycaliphate,startingwiththedeathof

Muhammadin632andendingwiththedeathof

Ali,thefourthGuidedCaliph,

in661.Theseatof

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thecaliphateduringthisperiodmovedfromMedina,inpresentdaySaudi

Arabia,toalKufaandalBasrainpresentdayIraq;

♦theUmayyadcaliphate(661–750),withitsseatinDamascus;

♦theAbbasidcaliphate(750–1258),withitscapitalinBaghdad;

♦theFatimidcaliphate(909–1171),aShi’iteoffshootofthemaincaliphate,

withitscapitalinCairo;

♦anoffshootoftheUmayyadcaliphatewhichwasestablishedinCordoba

(929–1031);

♦theOttomancaliphate(c.1517–1924),withitsseatinConstantinople.This

lastgreatcaliphateofIslamwasTurkish.

Theofficeofcaliph(i.e.leaderoftheMuslimcommunity)wasofficially

abolishedin1924.

FromthepointofviewofthehistoryoftranslationintoArabic,theorthodox

period,theFatimidcaliphateandtheoffshootoftheUmayyadcaliphatein

Spainareofrelativelylittleinterest.AlthoughtheArabconquestofSpainis

associatedwithanimportantperiodoftranslationactivity,muchofthisactivity

involvedtranslationoutofratherthanintoArabic(seeSPANISH

TRADITION).Themostimportantperiodsinthehistoryoftranslationinto

ArabicaretheUmayyadandAbbasid,whichwerefollowedbyalongperiodof

intellectualstagnationintheIslamicworldfromthetwelfthtotheeighteenthor

earlynineteenthcenturies.

ThewidelycelebratedflourishingoftranslationintheIslamicEmpireisclosely

associatedwithanddependentonthegrowthofArabicasawrittenliterary

language,whichbeganwiththeneedtostandardizethetextoftheQur’ān.The

statusofArabicaslinguafrancawasestablishedwhentheUmayyadCaliph

AbdalMalikibnMarawān(reigned685–705)declareditthesole

administrativelanguageoftheEmpire.Sincethenithasbeentheofficial

languageofallArabcountriesandcontinuestoplayaunifyingroleinthearea,

enablingthevarietyofreligiousandethnicgroupsthatmakeupthepopulation

oftheArabworldtothinkofthemselvesasa‘nation’.

TranslationintheArabIslamicEmpire(seventhtothirteenthcentury)

Sometranslationactivityseemstohavetakenplaceonasmallscalepriortothe

riseofIslam.AmanuscriptdatingbacktoA.D.513andwritteninGreek,

SyriacandArabicwasfoundnearAleppo.Itlists,amongotherthings,the

namesofmeninvolvedinbuildingthechurchwherethemanuscriptwasfound

(

Ali1986:51).Sometranslationandinterpretingactivitiesmustalsohave

existedintheveryearlydaysofIslam,thoughwehaveveryfewrecordsofsuch

activity.Wedoknow,however,thattheProphetsentmessagestovarious

politicalrulers,suchastheViceroyofEgypt,urgingthemtoadoptthenew

religion.ThistypeofexchangebetweentheProphetandnonArabrulerscould

nothavetakenplacewithoutsomeformoflinguisticmediation.Moreover,the

Qur’ānitselfincludesmanywordsborrowedfromGreek,Persian,Syriacand

Hebrew.

ThenewculturalenvironmentwhichdevelopedfollowingtheriseofIslamand

theexpansionoftheIslamicEmpirewasinfinitelyricherandmorecomplexthan

anythingpreviouslyexperiencedbytheinhabitantsoftheArabianPeninsula.The

newempirelayattheintersectionofeasternandwesterncivilizationsand

broughttogetherthemostsophisticatedculturaltraditionsoftheperiod:Greek,

Indian,PersianandEgyptian.Oneofthemostimportantconsequencesofthis

developmentwastheshiftofArabicfromamainlyorallanguage,spokenbyan

ethnicallyhomogeneouscommunityofnativespeakers,toawrittenandspoken

linguafrancaofavastcivilizationcomprisingmanyethnicandlinguisticgroups.

ThenomadicArabswhocameoutofthedeserthadagreatdealtolearnfrom

thenationstheyconquered;andtheywereeagerlearners.Inspiredbythe

richnessofthecivilizationstheywerenowencounteringforthefirsttime,and

explicitlyencouragedbytheQur’āntoseekknowledgewhereveritcouldbe

found,theybeganahugecampaigntoacquirethelearningofthenationsunder

theirruleandnaturallyturnedtotranslationasthemeansbywhichthenew

sourcesofknowledgecouldbeaccessed.Theperiodfromtheeighthtothe

eleventhcentury