Arabic-L:TRANS:Needs multiply translated works

[Dilworth Parkinson]

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Arabic-L: Mon 08 Sep 2003
Moderator: Dilworth Parkinson <dilworth_parkinson at byu.edu>
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1) Subject:Needs multiply translated works

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1)
Date: 08 Sep 2003
From:moderator
Subject:Needs multiply translated works

A colleage in the Spanish department is doing a 'wordprint' study to  
see to what extent an author's original voice is  preserved in  
translations, and whether different translations do it differently.  He  
is also investigating the role of various language combinations, and is  
interested in identifying works of Arabic Literature, particularly  
modern works, which have been translated more than once.  Here is his  
message to me.  If you are interested, please contact Prof. Hague  
directly at the address below:

I am beginning a study of translator subjectivity, and I need the help  
of your Arabic-l folks to identify English translations of modern  
Arabic literature.

Here's the skinny: I work in the Spanish department, where my principal  
responsibility is translator training. I am currently reading an  
interesting new (2002) book by Harold Love entitled Attributing  
Authorship. The book summarizes  stylometry studies, which often  
concern identifying the author of a work whose authorship is either  
unknown or disputed. As a result of reading this book, I have become  
interested in learning whether an original author's voice survives  
translation and whether a translator's translation work creates a  
stylistic fingerprint (what former BYU professors Al Rencher and John  
Hilton, in separate Book of Mormon studies, labeled "wordprints")  
distinct from the translator's own work. These issues have interesting  
implications for how the translation process works.

I envision a study (or series of studies) that would look at several  
areas:
Does a translator's translation wordprint differ from the translator's  
personal work?
Does the original author's voice survive translation?
Does such survival depend on the translator? For example, do different  
translators of the same work
        preserve the original author's voice?
Does survival of the original voice depend on particular language  
combinations (e.g., German-English, Spanish-English, Chinese-English,  
Arabic-English, Japanese-English)?

In order to do this study, I need translated texts. I know absolutely  
nothing about Arabic literature, so I need help identifying solid texts  
(5000 words minimum). I am most interested in modern works, and I am  
especially interested in modern works that have been translated more  
than once (and, naturally, by more than one translator). Could you  
place a request on Arabic-l for suggestions?

Thanks for your help!
Daryl Hague
Daryl_Hague at byu.edu
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