Language and Translation Studies (LTS)

Translating Mystical Literature: Analyzing Arberry's Translation of Farid ud-Din ʿAṭṭār's Taḏkerat al-awliāʾ through a Postcolonial Lens

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

marzieh malekshahi 1
Ghodrat Hassani 2

1 Damghan university

2 English Department, Damghan University

https://doi.org/10.22067/lts.2024.89993.1295
Abstract
This paper conducts a postcolonial analysis of A. J. Arberry's 1960 English translation of the Taḏkerat al-awliāʾ (Memorial of God's Friends) by Farid ud-Din ʿAṭṭār. While ʿAṭṭār's 12th-century biographical compilation offers profound insights into Persian Sufi traditions through its portraits of Islamic mystics, Arberry's translation reflects mid-20th century orientalist perspectives common among Western scholars. Through close examination of Arberry's translation strategies, including selective abridgement, extractive appropriation, interpretive additions, mythologizing language, and reductive section divisions, this study reveals how his orientalist positioning influenced his rendering of the text. The analysis demonstrates how Arberry's ideological framework led him to reshape ʿAṭṭār's work to align with Western expectations and colonial attitudes, thereby reinforcing unequal power dynamics in cross-cultural representation. The paper argues that Arberry's translation choices, from his organizational framework to his selective emphasis, ultimately serve to filter this seminal Persian text through a distinctly orientalist lens.

Highlights

 

Keywords

Postcolonialism
Orientalism
Translation
Taḏkerat al-awliā
Arthur John Arberry
Subjects

 

 
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Language and Translation Studies (LTS)
Volume 57, Issue 3
Autumn 2024
Pages 119-152

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