ON TRANSLATING GENDERED FIGURES OF SPEECH IN SHAKESPEARE INTO ARABIC

Abdel Tawab SALIM, Nessma

doi:10.21608/ijcihe.2020.182893

ON TRANSLATING GENDERED FIGURES OF SPEECH IN SHAKESPEARE INTO ARABIC

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Nessma Abdel Tawab SALIM

Faculty of Education, 6 th October University, Egypt

10.21608/ijcihe.2020.182893

Abstract

English is not an inflected language, and apart from the recognized genders of male and female, there is a different category which is neuter. Neuter does exist in Arabic but is regarded arbitrarily as either male or female, somehow like French, for instance. When Shakespeare introduces fairies of different kinds, it is assumed that they are genderless: on the stage, they can be played by girls, or boys, according to the director’s interpretation. However, in Arabic translation they are usually presented as female, though, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Bottom deals with them as males. The names of the fairies can refer to whatever gender the translator wants, but the choice will inevitably affect the character of the play; it may conflict with the common view of the scene of the fairies in Act IV, or it may encourage a reading of Bottom’s engagement with them as orgiastic. The story of translating Shakespeare into Arabic is, in a way, the story of departing from the criteria involved in what I have called the Arabic literary legacy. This movement took the form of introducing new literary genres, such as the novel, the short story, drama and a different kind of poetry- in form and content. This paper examines instances of adhering to the neuter as either male or female in Arabic, on account of Arabic culture, and how this adherence or lack of it in translation influences the meaning of the play’s action.

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