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Negotiating conflict: Rif'a Rfi' al-TahTwī and the translation of the 'other' in nineteenth-century Egypt

Salama-Carr, M

Authors

M Salama-Carr



Abstract

This paper analyses the role of the translator in the representation of alterity and the construction of national identity, with reference to the work of a nineteenth-century Egyptian translator, essayist and educationalist, Rif'a Rfi' al-TahTwī (1801-1874). The essay takhlīS al-ibrīz fī talkhīS brīs (“The Extraction of Gold in the Summarizing of Paris”) includes numerous examples of constructive translation and representation, which familiarised and legitimised the “other” through the identification of parallels, common values and experience. Al-TahTwī negotiated between conflicting discourses of modernism and traditionalism, and it is argued that the issues of representation raised in his work are of particular relevance to contemporary concerns in the geo-political arena.

Citation

Salama-Carr, M. (2007). Negotiating conflict: Rif'a Rfi' al-TahTwī and the translation of the 'other' in nineteenth-century Egypt. Social Semiotics, 17(2), 213-227. https://doi.org/10.1080/10350330701311496

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Jun 1, 2007
Deposit Date Jan 27, 2009
Journal Social Semiotics
Print ISSN 1035-0330
Publisher Routledge
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 17
Issue 2
Pages 213-227
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/10350330701311496
Publisher URL http://www.informaworld.com/openurl?genre=article&issn=1035-0330&volume=17&issue=2&spage=213