ENGL211: Introduction to Translation

History of Translation in the Western and Arab

World

Dr. Bashir
OUTLINE

Translation in the Western World

Translation in the Arab World
Translation in Antiquity (before 500AD

The first traces of translation date back to about 3000 B.C during the Egyptian old

kingdoms when the Sumerian Gilgamesh Epic were translated to four or five

Asiatic languages.

○ There are little record of translation in early times, but interpreters played

significant roles in translating from one language into another, particularly to serve

the empires of Persia and Greece.

Translation in Antiquity (before 500AD

From the third century onward a great bulk of Greek literature

were systematically translated into Latin.
Around 130 B.C., the Old Testament was translated from
Hebrew to Greek.
When Rome ruled the western civilized world, contacts
between nations developed and as a consequence, numerous
inscriptions were translated into more familiar languages.
Lucius Livius Andronicus

He was competent in Latin and Greek. He

started teaching these two languages and later
he founded the Roman epic poetry and drama.
Horace

Horace is known for his lyrics and was known to be a satirist and a translator.
Morton (1984, cited in Miremadi, 1993) describes Horace’s methodology of
translation as a process of word-for- word translation.
However, Munday (2001) states that Horace following Cicero, criticized word-
for-word translation, and mentioned the goal of translation as producing the
aesthetically pleasing and creative text in TL.
Saint Jerome

He was a monastic leader and he worked as a secretary to Pope.

His major contribution to literature was a translation of Bible into Latin.
He developed his own theory of translation.
He advocated translation based on sense-for-sense , and heavily criticized word-
for-word rendering.
Marcus Tullius Cicero: word-for-word or sense-for-sense

The distinction between word-for-word and sense –for-sense goes back to

Cicero.
He was a Roman statesman, a lawyer, a scholar, and a writer.
He believes:
“A translator must be either an interpreter or rhetorician… and I did not translate
as an interpreter, but as an orator, keeping the same ideas and forms,… or figures
of thought, but in a language which conforms to our usage. And in doing so I did
not hold it necessary to render word-for-word, but I preserve the general style and
the force of language.”
Translation in Middle Ages (500-1500 A.D)
In the early part of the Middle Ages, Jerome’s sense for sense was a fundamental
initiation in the art of translation.
Toledo scholars in 8th century played a significant role in transferring the
Islamic culture and enriching the western world.
From the 13th century to the end of 15th century, translation as an art improved
both in quality and quantity in which the priority was given to sense for sense
translation.
This created controversies which made new theories of translation to be
developed in later centuries.
Translation in the 16th and 17th centuries

The following scholars had major contribution in the development

of translation theory in this era.
Martin Luther
Etienne Dolet
Cowley
John Dryden
Martin Luther (1483-1546
 He was a German priest, biblical scholar, and, also a linguist. He played an
important role in Reformation.
 He was one of the first scholars who established the systematic principles and
techniques of translation:
 Shift of word orders
 Employment of modal auxiliaries
 Introduction of connectives when required
 Suppression of Greek or Hebrew terms which had no acceptable equivalents in
German
 Use of phrases whenever necessary to translate single words
 Shift of metaphors to non-metaphors, and vice versa
 Careful attention to textual variants
Etienne Dolet (1509-1546)

He was a French humanist, painter and scholar. He is mostly known as the first
Renaissance martyr.
His major principles of translation are as follows:
The translator must understand the content and the intention of the author
perfectly well before involving himself in the act of translation.
The translator should have a perfect knowledge of both the source and the target
languages.
The translator must avoid the tendency to translate word for word.
The translator should focus on the intention of the text rather than words used
by the author
Cowley (1618-1667)
Cowley and Denham share the idea that in translating a poem, semantic gaps
will lead to evaporation of meaning. Therefore, the translator has to supply
“new beauties” to the translated text.
Cowley advocated a very free translation
John Dryden (1631-1700)

He was an English poet, dramatist and literary critic.

He emphasized the role of author. His principles are as follows:
1/ The translator must understand the language of the author.
2/ The translator must be familiar with the authors thoughts.
3/ The translator must know the author’s individual characteristics.
4/ The translator must look into himself to conform his own genius to that of the
author ‘s.
If the thoughts in the translator’s language and those of the author’s are identical,
then rendering would occur smoothly. If the thoughts in the translator’s language
and those of the author’s are not identical, then redressing is required.
Dryden (Cont.)
Dryden reduces all translations into three categories:
1/ Metaphrase: word by word and line by line translation which correspond to
literal translation.
2/ Paraphrase: translation with latitude (freedom).
the sense of the author’s work is carefully observed but his words are not so
strictly followed. It correspond to faithful or sense for sense translation.
3/ Imitation: translation in which both senses and words tend to vary. It
corresponds to Cowley's very free translation, and it is more or less adaptation.
Translation in the 18th and 19th centuries

The 18th century witness an equilibrium between literacy and freedom in prose
translation as well as the production of technical translation.
The 19th century was the age of accuracy in translation and freedom in style.
Translation in this period was more theory oriented.
Alexander Woodhouslee (Tytler)
His essays on the principles of translation appeared in the last decade of 18th
century.
He has three general laws or rules;
1/ The translation should give a complete transcript of the ideas of the original
work.
2/ The style and manner of writing should be of the same character with that of the
original.
Schleiermacher

He was a German theologian and translator.

He believes that there are only two paths open for the true translator:
Either the translator leaves the writer alone as much as possible and moves the
reader towards the writer, or he leaves the reader alone as much as possible and
moves the writer towards the reader.
Schleiermacher preferred the first strategy moving the reader towards the writer.
The translator should orient himself by the language and the content of ST and
then must valorize the foreign and transfer that into the TL.
He was a German theologian and translator.
He believes that there are only two paths open for the true translator:
Either the translator leaves the writer alone as much as possible and moves the
reader towards the writer, or he leaves the reader alone as much as possible and
moves the writer towards the reader.
Schleiermacher preferred the first strategy moving the reader towards the writer.
The translator should orient himself by the language and the content of ST and
then must valorize the foreign and transfer that into the TL.
Translation in 19th century
A new policy dominated the turn of the century. The argument was that the
whole text had to be translated without retrenchment, except when immoralities
were presented in the text.
Footnote writing became a routine.
Many translators used foreign words in their rendering (translation).
In contrast with 18th which was more data oriented, 19th century came to be
more theory oriented.
Translation in 20th century
The 20th century has been the age of technology and techniques.
Translation was used as means to know about facts and other communities’
needs.
Chomsky’s revolution in linguistics was a motive to the new formation of new
concepts most of which have been and still are sources of inspirations to the
theorists in the field of translation.
Scholars of translation in the 20th century

Eugene Nida (1959,1964,1969,1975)

Vinay and Darbelnet (1958)
C. J. Catford (1965)
Peter Newmark (1981)
History of Translation in the Arab World
Pre-Islamic Period: Some translation activity seems to have taken place
on a small scale prior to the rise of Islam. A manuscript dating back to AD
513 and written in Greek, Syriac and Arabic was found near Aleppo.
We can deduce from the history of Pre-Islamic Arabia that translation did
exist to facilitate the trade relations that existed between the Arabs and
other nations like the Persians, the Indians, the Romans and the
Egyptians. These relations and interactions must have been facilitated by
translations mediating between these cultures and these different
languages
From the poetry of Al-A’sha, we know that he (the poet) did visit
neighboring nations and had contacts with these nations, and this shows
that he made use of translators, or he was a multilingual himself although
this is not attested.
We also know that Imru’l al-Qays was in contact with the Roman Caesar
History of Translation in the Arab World

There is evidence that the Old Testament was translated into

Arabic before Islam.
The Romans were keen to translate the New Testament into
Arabic to serve the increasing populations embracing
Christianity or Judaism.
There is also evidence that Arab students left their homeland
and went to Persia to learn in their well- established schools of
learning. An example is Al-Harith Bin Kildah who studied at
Jundisabur school.
Translation during the life of Prophet Mohamed
We know that the letters and messengers sent to kings and leaders of
different countries were written in Arabic, but we assume that the
messengers who were sent to these places were at least bilinguals and
functioned as facilitators of communication via translation.
Madina was full of people from different ethnicities and of different
linguistic backgrounds and the companions of the Prophet learnt these
languages from them.
Zayd bin Thabit was ordered by the Prophet to learn Persian, Greek and
Hebrew.
It is evident that Mugheera was the translator of the dialogues between
Omar and Hurmuzan, the Persian ruler when he came to Madina.
Translation in the Umayyad Period

Islamic Conquests and the need for translators to mediate between the conquerors and
the conquered. Greek was the official language in Syria and Old Persian was the official
language of Iraq and Aramaic was the official language of Christian Churches. With the
expansion of the Islamic State during the early periods of Islam and also during the days
of the Umayyad period, the Arabs spread Arabic as the official language in all the lands
they conquered replacing Greek in Syria, Pahlavi in Iraq, Coptic in Egypt. This required
all administration systems and all types of records and documentation systems in those
lands to be translated into Arabic
Muawiyah had a translator called ibn Athal who was both a physician and a translator
who translated a number of Greek medical treatises.
Marwan bin Al-Hakam had a physician called Masrjuwaih Al-Basri, who also translated
medical treatises from Syriac.
Salem, a translator for Hisham bin Abdul Malik translated the letters of Aristotle to
Alexander.
Translation in the Umayyad Period

Although there is no substantial evidence, we assume that the

early practices of translation between Arabic and other
languages like Persian and Latin began at this time, given that
a number of native speakers of these languages embraced
Islam and began teaching it to their fellow men in their native
languages.
Translation in the Abbasid Period

The clearest and most well-known tradition of translation was developed during the
Abbasid period from the year 753 – 990. This period can actually be divided into three:
The First generation of translators during the early days of the Abbasid period
specifically during the days of Al-Mansour and Al-Rasheed, i.e. from 753 – 813.
During this period we have translations from Persian carried out by Ibn Al-Moqaffa
(Banchantra) ( ‫( قواعد سلوك الملوك‬and we have some Greek translations also.
According to Ibn Khaldun, the Book of Eqlides is considered the first translation from
Greek to Arabic.
The first generation is characterized by the establishment of Bayt Al-Hikma in Baghdad
by AlRasheed.
This House of Wisdom had a personnel of 65 translators: 47 translators worked from
Greek and Syriac, 17 from Persian, 1 from Aramaic
Translation in the Abbasid Period

The second generation which begins in 813 and continues until 833 is the period
of Al-Ma’moon and this is the period in which translation flourished and took a
significant turning towards systematization.
During the rule of Al-Ma’moon, this library assumed an important role and
changed to become a study center in which translation became a profession and
the number of translations increased and the number of translators also
increased to the extent that there existed a hierarchical system of personnel
administration in this library.
Word-for-word translation, represented by Yuhanna Al-Bitreeq and Ibn Al-
Naíma Al-Himsi.
Sense-for-sense translation, represented by Hunayn bin Ishaq, Al-Jawhari, Al-
Hajjaj bin Matar, Kosta bin Luqa and Thabet bin Qurrah.
This period witnessed the golden age of translation from Greek sources
Translation in the Abbasid Period

The third generation which extends from 912 – end of the 10th
century. In this period we have famous names like Matta bin
Yunus, Sinan bin Thabet and Yahia bin Ady. Most of Aristotle’s
works were translated in this period.
The Arab Renaissance Period

Mohamed Ali and the missions sent to Europe in the 19th century.
Rifaaáh Tahtawi (1801 – 1873)
The person who triggered the translation movement in the Arab world.
Madrasat Al-Alsun, 1835
Focus was on translation of French literature
Suleiman Al-Bustani (1856- 1925)
He spoke Greek, German, English, French and Italian. He translated the Iliad
which is more than 15, 000 lines, on the basis of the five languages he knew. He
worked on this translation for 8 years. He translated this epic as poetry
Sami Al-Dorubi (1921 – 1980)
Translated the works of the well-known Russian novelist Dostoevsky in 18
volumes
Present
According to Next Page Foundation, 22 book translated 1951-
1998 (UNISCO)
One thousand book Project in Egypt, (1957-1970s) (287 titles)
2 nd One Thousand Book Project in Egypt, 1986, 361 titles by
2000
The National Translation Project, 1995, Egypt
The National Council for Culture, Arts and Literature, Kuwait,
1973
Kalima, Abu Dhabi, 2007
References
SQU Staff
https://www.academia.edu/29349522/Translation_Theories