Othello in the Egyptian vernacular : negotiating the 'doxic' in drama translation and identity formation

Hanna, S

Abstract

Throughout the cultural history of modern Egypt, language
has been a site for constructing and contesting different
versions of national identity. While Classical Arabic (fusha) has been widely recognized by many as the legitimate expression of an Arab-Islamic identity that Egypt partakes of, there have been attempts by Egyptian intellectuals to forge and promote a unique Egyptian identity distinct from the Arab-Islamic geo-political and
socio-cultural sphere. Egyptian vernacular Arabic (‘ammiyya) has been mainly deployed as the distinctive mark of this identity. While recognizing that the two categories of fusha and ‘ammiyya and the arbitrary divide between them are epistemological constructs that have been sustained and promoted by a number of institutional and discursive practices, including a linguistic discourse couched in a modernist understanding of reality, this article seeks to pinpoint the social/cultural economy of these two constructs in the field of drama translation in Egypt. It then examines a translation of Othello produced by Moustapha Safouan in 1998, in which he negotiates
Egyptian identity through a strategic use of ‘ammiyya. The discussion of language and cultural practices in Egypt and Safouan’s translation draws on Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of doxa.

Citation

Hanna, S. (2009). Othello in the Egyptian vernacular : negotiating the 'doxic' in drama translation and identity formation. Translator: Studies in Intercultural Communication, 15(1), 157-178. https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2009.10799275

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Feb 21, 2014
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2009
• Deposit Date: Oct 26, 2011
• Journal: The Translator
• Print ISSN: 1355-6509
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 15
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 157-178
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2009.10799275
• Keywords: Bourdieu, classical Arabic, doxa, Egypt, Egyptian Arabic, identity formation, Khalil Mutran, Moustapha Safouan, Othello
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2009.10799275
• Related Public URLs: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rtrn20
• Additional Information: Additional Information : Special issue of journal: 'Nation and translation in the Middle East'. ISBN: 9781905763139.