The Translatability of the Colloquial Arabic Dialogue into English: A Case Study of three Arabic novels translated by Marilyn Booth: The Open Door, Celestial Bodies, and As Though She were Sleeping

Abstract

This study aims at investigating the strategies employed in translating Colloquial Arabic (CA) dialogues and dialects within three contemporary Arabic novels into English. The study selects three novels: one each from Egypt, Lebanon, and Oman. A unifying factor among these novels is their use of CA dialogue. Furthermore, all three novels were translated by the same translator: the American translator and academic Marilyn Booth. The rationale behind the selection of these three novels in relation to the fieldwork methodology is justified by the initial assumption that the three novels reflect three main geographical and dialectal regions: the Levant, Egypt and the Gulf states.

The research adopts a mixed-methods approach, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative elements to maximize the comprehensiveness of the findings. This entails a case study analysis of the three novels alongside a questionnaire distributed to 50 professional literary translators working between Arabic and English. The literary translators highlighted in this study are practitioners specializing in translation between Arabic and English. These translators possess substantial expertise and a record of published works in the field of literary translation, particularly focusing on contemporary Arabic novels and contemporary English-language novels, with specific attention to the handling of dialectal variations. The questionnaire serves the purpose of gathering the participants’ insights and opinions on the translatability of CA dialogues and dialects into English.

This study establishes its originality by offering a rare platform for literary translators between Arabic and English to voice their perspectives on translating CA dialogues and dialects in contemporary Arabic novels. To the best of the researcher’s knowledge, this represents one of the few instances where such literary translators have been directly consulted within academic research. The theoretical framework underpinning this research draws upon Skopos Theory and Christiane Nord’s translation-oriented Model of Text Functions, providing a foundation for the analysis.

The research findings unveil that translating CA dialogues and dialects into formal English often obscures many character details within the source text. Consequently, the cultural, social, and educational standing of characters in the target text loses some nuance compared to the source text. The research holds the potential to benefit a diverse range of stakeholders, including literary translators, scholars of translation studies, and readers of translated contemporary Arabic literature in English. Furthermore, it paves the way for parallel studies exploring the translatability of other dialects in other languages.

This research opens doors to a fruitful exchange of knowledge between translation studies and other disciplines, including dialectology, discourse analysis, and social media communication. By highlighting the significance of context and culture in shaping the translator’s perspective, the research emphasizes the importance of accurately conveying these elements in the final translated text, particularly when dealing with sections rich in CA dialogue and dialects employed by contemporary Arab novelists in the source text.