The Agency of the Translator: Khalil Baydas' Literary Translations.

Abstract

This dissertation examines the translation practice of Khalil Baydas (1875-1949), Palestinian writer, translator, and journalist. Baydas translated dozens of novels and short stories from Russian into Arabic. Literary translation made up a large part of Arabic literature published during the nahḍah, the Arab literary renaissance of the 19th century. However, these translations are dismissed because they often drift far from their source texts. This practice, known as al-tarjamah bi-taṣarruf, acknowledges the alterations that the translator makes while translating. Using the translation theory of Lawrence Venuti, this dissertation works to read the space between the translation and the translated text in a new way. Rather than comparing the two texts to measure the fidelity of the translation, this dissertation focuses on the choices that Baydas makes as a translator. In each text considered, we see distinct patterns in the changes that Baydas makes to the source text. To contextualize these decisions, I pair each translation discussed with a selection of articles from Baydas’ journal al-nafa’is al-‘asriyyah that treat those topics that shape his decisions as a translator.

I pair close readings of three of Baydas’ novel-length translations with selections from the nonfiction articles from his literary journal al-nafa’is al-‘aṣriyyah that contextualize the decisions that Baydas makes in each of his translations. I pair my reading of Baydas’ translation of Alexander Pushkin’s Captain’s Daughter with the articles he published on national identity, a complicated question for Arabs living in the Ottoman Empire. Next, I read the alterations that Baydas makes in Marie Corelli’s novel Temporal Power together with the articles he published on education in al-nafa’is. Finally, I discuss Baydas’ translation of Aleksei Tolstoy’s Prince Serebrianiy. Using Georg Lukacs’ theories of the relationship between historical fiction and national identity, I examine the ways in which Baydas manipulates history in his fiction and nonfiction. In each case, the connections between Baydas’ alterations to his source texts and the nonfiction articles that he publishes show how deliberate and disciplined his translation practice was, opening the door for a new consideration of the place of translation in the development of modern Arabic literature.