Socio-cultural Perspectives on Translation Activities in Saudi Arabia

217 Pages·2013·3.49 MB·English

by  Abdullah Alkhamis

Socio-cultural Perspectives on Translation
Activities in Saudi Arabia:
A Bourdieusean Account

A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities

2012

Abdullah M. Alkhamis

School of Arts, Languages, and Cultures
Table of Contents
List of Figures...................................................................................................5
List of Tables....................................................................................................6
Abstract...........................................................................................................7
Declaration......................................................................................................8
Copyright Statement........................................................................................8
Note on Transcription of Arabic.......................................................................9
Dedication.....................................................................................................10
Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................11
1. Research Context ............................................................................................13
2. Research Questions.........................................................................................19
3. Data..................................................................................................................20
4. Organisation of the Thesis...............................................................................21

Chapter 2: The Sociology of Pierre Bourdieu..................................................24
1. The Roots of Bourdieu’s Theory……………………………………………………………….....24
2. Bourdieu’s Central Concepts: The Notion of Field…………………………………….....26
3. Bourdieu’s Notion of Habitus……………………………………………………………………….34
4. Interdependence of Field and Habitus…………………………………………………………40
5. Capital: Determining Agents’ Positions………………………………………………………..43
6. Homology…………………………………………………………………………………………………….46
7. Doxa, Orthodoxy, and Heterodoxy……………………………………………………………….46
7.1 Doxa: the Self-evident Dispositions………………………………………………….47
7.2 Orthodoxy vs. Heterodoxy……………………………………….………………………49
8. Conclusions…………………………………………………….…………………………………………...52

Chapter 3: Analysing the Field of Translation in Saudi Arabia: Academic and
Literary Institutions........................................................................................53
1. The Trajectory of Academic and Literary Institutions in Saudi Arabia; a Socio-
Political Account..................................................................................................56
2. Translations by Governmental Institutions: Part of the Field of
Translation?.........................................................................................................62
2.1 King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives.......................63
2.2 The Arab Bureau of Education for the Gulf States..............................64
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2.3 Other Governmental Institutions........................................................67
2.4 Governmental Translation Practice and the Concept of
Illusio....................................................................................................................68
3. Structure of the Sub-Field of Translation and Available Positions: Academic
and Literary Institutions.......................................................................................71
4. The Agents and their Production.....................................................................74
4.1 King Saud University Translation Centre.............................................74
4.2 Institute of Public Administration.......................................................81
4.3 King Abdulaziz University....................................................................83
4.4 Other Universities...............................................................................84
4.5 Jeddah Literary and Cultural Club.......................................................86
5. Capital: Logics of Struggle................................................................................88
5.1 The Academy.......................................................................................88
5.1.1 The Macro Level....................................................................88
5.1.2 The Micro Level.....................................................................92
5.2 JLCC.....................................................................................................93
6. Conclusion........................................................................................................94

Chapter 4: Analysing the Field of Translation in Saudi Arabia: The Publishing
Industry: Private Sector..................................................................................97
1. The History of Publishing and Printing in Saudi Arabia....................................98
2. Structure of the Field and Available Positions...............................................100
3. The Agents and their Production...................................................................103
3.1 Jarir...................................................................................................103
3.2 Obeikan.............................................................................................127
3.3 Dar al-Mareekh.................................................................................132
4. Capital: Logics of Practice..............................................................................134
5. Conclusion......................................................................................................139

Chapter 5: Obeikan’s translation of Niall Ferguson’s Colossus: The Rise and Fall
of the American Empire...............................................................................141
1. Niall Ferguson’s Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire (first
edition, Allen Lane, 2004)..................................................................................142
2. The Agents.....................................................................................................147
2.1 Obeikan.............................................................................................148
2.2 The Translator: Mo’en al-Emam.......................................................148
2.3 Mohammed al-Ahmary.....................................................................149
3. Textual Interventions.....................................................................................150
3.1 The State’s Politics vs. Religious Politics............................................152
3.2 Political Doxa Expressed in Religious Terms......................................162
3.3 The Historic Suspicion towards the US..............................................171
4. Conclusion......................................................................................................173
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Chapter 6: Findings and Conclusions............................................................174
1. A Field in its own Right?.................................................................................177
2. The Sub-field of Academic Translation..........................................................179
3. The Sub-field of Translation within the Publishing Field................................180
4. Capital............................................................................................................186
5. Homologies....................................................................................................188
6. Suggestions for Future Research...................................................................190

Bibliography.................................................................................................192
Appendix 1...................................................................................................206
Appendix 2...................................................................................................208
Appendix 3...................................................................................................211
Word Count: 63351
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List of Figures
Figure 1: Number of universities established throughout Saudi history........................59
Figure 2: Screenshot of ABEGS list of published books and translations.......................66
Figure 3: Most active agents among academic institutions...........................................72
Figure 4: Screenshot of the list of translators and their production on KSUTC
website...........................................................................................................................77
Figure 5: Screenshot of the sample of publications available on KSUTC
website...........................................................................................................................78
Figure 6: Screenshot of a sample of information provided about each translated book
by KSUTC.........................................................................................................................79
Figure 7: Chart of the number and subjects of translations in the showcased sample on
the website of KSUTC.....................................................................................................80
Figure 8: Screenshot of the IPA’s website list................................................................82
Figure 9: Chart of the number and subjects of translations produced by KAU..............84
Figure 10: Front cover of the July 2004 issue of Nawafidh............................................87
Figures 11/12: The subject heading of page 9 is: brain and memory improvement, and
of page 10 is: parenting and child care; the arrow indicates the title where the subject
changes.........................................................................................................................105
Figure 13: Groups of titles likely to fall under different subject categories assigned by
Jarir...............................................................................................................................106
Figure 14: Titles Missing Arabic Descriptions on Jarir’s list..........................................107
Figure 15: Lack of Consistency between English and Arabic subject headings in Jarir’s
list.................................................................................................................................108
Figure 16: Jarir’s translation output based on their subject categorisation.................110
Figure 17: Subject classifications drawn from Amazon and number of Jarir titles falling
under each subject.......................................................................................................111
Figure 18: Number of translations published by Jarir grouped under broad subject
headings.......................................................................................................................112
Figure 19: Two examples in which previous successful titles by the same author
mentioned on the front cover......................................................................................113
Figure 20: Front cover of the English version of Men Are from Mars, Women Are from
Venus............................................................................................................................118
Figure 21: Front cover of the Arabic translation of Men Are from Mars, Women Are
from Venus...................................................................................................................119
Figure 22: On the left: picture of American actress Selena Gomez attending the 2012
Venice Film Festival. On the right: altered image, in which the upper chest and
shoulders are digitally covered. The photo featured in a story on the event by Riyadh
newspaper....................................................................................................................121
Figure 23: Back cover of the English version of Men Are from Mars, Women Are from
Venus............................................................................................................................122
Figure 24: Back cover of the Arabic translation of Men Are from Mars, Women Are
from Venus...................................................................................................................123
Figure 25: Number and subject categories of translations produced by Obeikan.......128
Figure 26: Continuum of the forms of capital sought by Dar al-Mareekh and translators
of their books...............................................................................................................134
Figure 27: Continuum of the forms of capital sought by Jarir and Obeikan................137
Figure 28: Front cover of the US hardback version of Colossus...................................144
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Figure 29: Front cover of the UK hardback version of Colossus...................................145
Figure 30: Front cover of the UK paperback version of Colossus.................................146
Figure 31: Front cover of the translation of Colossus...................................................147
Figure 32: Back cover of the translation of Colossus....................................................170

List of Tables
Table 1: Remaining governmental institutions and the number of translations
published by each...........................................................................................................62
Table 2: Remaining academic institutions and the number of translations published by
each................................................................................................................................73
Table 3: Sample of 220 translations showcased on the KSUTC site grouped under
subject headings.............................................................................................................79
Table 4: Jarir’s translation output based on their subject categorisation....................109
Table 5: Subject classifications drawn from Amazon and total Jarir titles falling under
each subject..................................................................................................................111
Table 6: Number and subject categories of translations produced by Obeikan..........128
Table 7: Number of translations published by Dar al-Mareekh under each subject
category........................................................................................................................133
Table 8: Place of publication of non-translated literary and intellectual production by
Saudis in 2008-10.........................................................................................................182
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Abstract
The main aim of this thesis is to examine translation practices in Saudi Arabia as
“socially situated” activities in the second half of the 20th century. Drawing on
Bourdieu’s sociological model, the study situates the translation activities of academic,
private, and literary institutions in their socio-political context of cultural production.
Conceptual tools of analysis derived from Bourdieu, such as field, habitus, capital,
doxa, and homology, are used to analyse book translation as a set of emerging sub-
fields in Saudi Arabia.
The study identifies academic institutions and private publishers as the principal
agents contributing to the definition of the field of translation. It analyses the positions
they occupy in the field(s) of cultural production and types of capital that have value in
the context of their struggles. An expanding range of translation practices by faculty
members in academic institutions, especially those undertaken in King Saud University,
points to an emerging network of translation-specific positions, which can be referred
to as the sub-field of academic translation. The dictates of this sub-field are influenced
by strong homologous relations with the encompassing academic field. The capital
sought by agents is primarily cultural and symbolic, and is readily convertible to
economic capital.
The thesis also identifies three private publishers who occupy positions in the second
emerging sub-field of translation within the publishing field. These agents display
different interests in a variety of stakes and types of capital. Jarir’s focus on translating
self-help books demonstrates a heavy influence of the heteronomous dictates of the
local and global markets, i.e. the economic field, situating it within the heteronomous
pole of large scale circulation. Translation practices undertaken by Dar al-Mareekh and
Obeikan position them nearer to the autonomous pole of small-scale circulation,
where agents target smaller groups of readership and prioritise cultural and symbolic
forms of capital. A heteronomous influence exercised by the political field is also
detected in Obeikan’s focus on political works critical of US foreign policy, which
situates these products within the heteronomous pole of politics.
A translation by Obeikan of Niall Ferguson’s 2004 Colossus is examined in detail as a
case study to further illuminate translation strategies as sociological phenomena
situated within the field of power. Paratextual engagements reflect discourses of anti-
Americanism that have circulated in the Saudi social space since US presence in the
Kingdom intensified in 1990. The concepts of orthodoxy and heterodoxy are used to
analyse a series of textual interventions at the micro level. Typographic signalling of
censored sections that undermine the political authorities is found to reflect the
agent’s positioning in relation to the heterodoxic, pro-American stance in the political
field. The publisher’s position in this respect aligns with and reflects the orthodoxic
stance of the pan-Islamist, religious-cum-nationalist field, whose agents have
protested the continued military cooperation between the Kingdom and the US
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DECLARATION
No portion of the work referred to in the thesis has been submitted in support
of an application for another degree or qualification of this or any other
university or other institute of learning.

COPYRIGHT STATEMENT
i. The author of this thesis (including any appendices and/or schedules to this
thesis) owns certain copyright or related rights in it (the “Copyright”) and s/he
has given The University of Manchester certain rights to use such Copyright,
including for administrative purposes.
ii. Copies of this thesis, either in full or in extracts and whether in hard or
electronic copy, may be made only in accordance with the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988 (as amended) and regulations issued under it or, where
appropriate, in accordance with licensing agreements which the University has
from time to time. This page must form part of any such copies made.
iii. The ownership of certain Copyright, patents, designs, trade marks and other
intellectual property (the “Intellectual Property”) and any reproductions of
copyright works in the thesis, for example graphs and tables (“Reproductions”),
which may be described in this thesis, may not be owned by the author and may
be owned by third parties. Such Intellectual Property and Reproductions cannot
and must not be made available for use without the prior written permission of
the owner(s) of the relevant Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions.
iv. Further information on the conditions under which disclosure, publication
and commercialisation of this thesis, the Copyright and any Intellectual Property
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University IP Policy (see
http://www.campus.manchester.ac.uk/medialibrary/policies/intellectualproper
ty.pdf), in any relevant Thesis restriction declarations deposited in the
University Library, The University Library’s regulations (see
http://www.manchester.ac.uk/library/aboutus/regulations) and in The
University’s policy on presentation of Theses.

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Note on Transcription of Arabic
This thesis adopts the style used by The International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies
for Arabic Transcriptions. The symbols used are as follows:
Consonants
ء ’ س s ل l
ب b ش sh م m
ت t ص ṣ ن n
ث th ض ḍ ه h
ج j ط ṭ و w
ح ḥ ظ ẓ ى y
خ kh ع ‘ لا al-
د d غ gh ة -a
ذ dh ف f
ر r ق q
ز z ك k

Vowels
Short vowels: a, i, u
Double vowels: iyy (in final position)
Long vowels: ā, ī, ū
Diphthongs: aw, ay
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To Joudi

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