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Pragmatics: Online-First Articles

The role of translation in language standardization

The case of Egypt

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This article contributes to the debate on language standardization from below by examining the role of translation in the struggle to standardize āmmīya as a national language in Egypt. Drawing on Haugen’s model of language standardization, the article investigates the sociolinguistic and cultural factors that influenced the production and reception of three recent translations of literary classics into āmmīya: Le Petit Prince, L’Étranger, and The Old Man and the Sea. It is argued that the translations were undertaken not only on literary but also on nationalistic and feminist grounds. The findings show that the translations negotiated the norms of the literary field, where literariness has been coded by fuṣḥā, by conceptualizing Cairene Arabic as a separate diglossic language. Codification and elaboration occurred simultaneously through the diffusion of folk linguistic views in the paratexts of translated works from different literary genres, as well as through media interviews and social media.
Keywords: ‘āmmīya , codification, diglossia, feminism, fuṣḥā , language standardization, nationalism, translation
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Haugen’s model of linguistic standardization as a methodological approach
  • 3. Fuṣḥā and ‘āmmīya in Post-Arab Spring Egypt
  • 4.Selection: Negotiating the norms of the literary field
    • 4.1Power of naming
    • 4.2Linking Cairene Arabic to national identity
  • 5.Codification
    • 5.1The translations as sites of folk linguistics
    • 5.2Textual codification of the selected norm
  • 6.Elaboration: The turn to print culture
  • 7.Acceptance by the community: ‘Āmmīya as a feminist counterforce to fuṣḥā
  • 8.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Author queries
  • References
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References (47)
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