
Translating Cultures in the Arab World
New Histories and Geographies
Routledge (Publisher)
1st Edition
Will be published approx. on 17. July 2026
Book
Hardback
250 pages
978-1-041-14493-9 (ISBN)
Description
Translating Cultures in the Arab World: New Histories and Geographies significantly expands translation studies by unearthing overlooked discussions and reconceptualizing the history and movements of translation. It moves beyond a Western-centric and Anglonormative research perspective by beginning with the Middle East and the Arabic language, critically engaging with scholarship from the Arab world, including the Gulf region and the Global South. This provides a more inclusive and representative theorization of translating cultures for the twenty-first century. It features contributions from leading scholars that challenge previous interpretations and highlight translation's crucial role in reshaping the translational humanities and Middle Eastern studies.
The text addresses critical issues, including the philosophy of translation, the dialectical relationship between translation and culture, the complexities of untranslatability, and the pivotal role of translation within specific historical and cultural contexts, such as Medieval Islamic cookbooks, the Arab world in sixteenth-century Islamic Spain, epistemic translation in the Arab Renaissance (Nah?a), the first Saudi Opera, Zarqa Al Yamama, and the contemporary proliferation of translational spaces within the Gulf region. The volume thus serves as an essential intervention, urging scholars to interrogate how knowledge is constructed, contested, and reconfigured in global and translational contexts.
As a comprehensive examination of translating cultures at the intersection of historical analysis, theoretical exploration, and global cultural exchange, this volume serves as an essential resource for scholars and students in translation studies, comparative literature, Middle Eastern studies, and related fields.
The text addresses critical issues, including the philosophy of translation, the dialectical relationship between translation and culture, the complexities of untranslatability, and the pivotal role of translation within specific historical and cultural contexts, such as Medieval Islamic cookbooks, the Arab world in sixteenth-century Islamic Spain, epistemic translation in the Arab Renaissance (Nah?a), the first Saudi Opera, Zarqa Al Yamama, and the contemporary proliferation of translational spaces within the Gulf region. The volume thus serves as an essential intervention, urging scholars to interrogate how knowledge is constructed, contested, and reconfigured in global and translational contexts.
As a comprehensive examination of translating cultures at the intersection of historical analysis, theoretical exploration, and global cultural exchange, this volume serves as an essential resource for scholars and students in translation studies, comparative literature, Middle Eastern studies, and related fields.
Reviews / Votes
"The volume reconceptualizes the history and movements of translation, beginning with the Middle East and the Arabic language, thus moving beyond a Western-centric and Anglo normative research perspective. Apart from translation studies, it will no doubt be useful for scholars working in discourse analysis, history, sociology, politics, and other related subjects."-Africa Vidal Claramonte, Professor in Translation Studies, The University of Salamanca
"In its urgent call for re-entering the Arab-Islamic world epistemologically and methodologically, this book is a signal contribution to translation studies in the Arab world, poised to broaden the philosophical scope of its theorizing and to deepen its historical reach."
-Wail S. Hassan, Professor and Head of the Department of Comparative & World Literature, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
"This fascinating series of theoretical interventions and richly informed case studies is a major re-mapping of the discipline of Translation Studies. Bringing together leading critics and theorists from Eurocentric and Arabic traditions, the volume underscores how foundational Arabic translation is to Western humanism and world culture generally."
Michael Syrotinski, Marshall Professor of French and Comparative Literature, Director, Centre for Comparative Literature and Translation, University of Glasgow
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Academic and Postgraduate
Illustrations
5 farbige Abbildungen, 1 s/w Photographie bzw. Rasterbild, 5 Farbfotos bzw. farbige Rasterbilder, 1 s/w Abbildung
5 Halftones, color; 1 Halftones, black and white; 5 Illustrations, color; 1 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-041-14493-9 (9781041144939)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Moneera Al-Ghadeer | Charles Forsdick | Andreas Karatsolis
Translating Cultures in the Arab World
New Histories and Geographies
E-Book
approx. 07/2026
1st Edition
Routledge
€55.49
Not yet available

Moneera Al-Ghadeer | Charles Forsdick | Andreas Karatsolis
Translating Cultures in the Arab World
New Histories and Geographies
E-Book
approx. 07/2026
1st Edition
Routledge
€55.49
Not yet available

Moneera Al-Ghadeer | Charles Forsdick | Andreas Karatsolis
Translating Cultures in the Arab World
New Histories and Geographies
Book
approx. 07/2026
1st Edition
Routledge
€52.50
Not yet published
Persons
Moneera Al-Ghadeer holds the UNESCO Chair in Translating Cultures at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. She was a visiting professor at Columbia University and Harvard University,
as well as a tenured professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Charles Forsdick is Drapers Professor of French at University of Cambridge and Lead Fellow for Languages at the British Academy.
Andreas Karatsolis is a senior lecturer and the permanent Director of Writing, Rhetoric, and Professional Communication (WRAP) at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a program which supports the communication needs of all undergraduate MIT students.
as well as a tenured professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Charles Forsdick is Drapers Professor of French at University of Cambridge and Lead Fellow for Languages at the British Academy.
Andreas Karatsolis is a senior lecturer and the permanent Director of Writing, Rhetoric, and Professional Communication (WRAP) at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a program which supports the communication needs of all undergraduate MIT students.
Editor
King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies
Content
Table of Contents
List of Contributors
Acknowledgement
Introduction: Rethinking Translating Cultures and the Arab World
Moneera Al-Ghadeer
Part I - Translating Cultures: Theoretical Frameworks and Foundational Concepts
1. The Importance of Translation for the Study of Cultures
Susan Bassnett
2. Translating Cultures: Origins and Future Directions
Charles Forsdick
3. Planetary Concept Work: Philology, Untranslatables, Language Justice
Emily Apter
4. Philosophy and Translation in the Arab World
Abdessalam Benabdelali
Part II- Translating Cultures in the Gulf Region: Case Studies and Emerging Paradigms
5. The Specter of Un-translatability and the First Saudi Opera, Zarqa al-Yamama
Moneera Al-Ghadeer
6. Arabophone Cultures of Translation: Patterns and Factors for their Emergence
Andreas Karatsolis and Mohammed Alsudairi
Part III- Historical Perspectives on Cultural and Translational Movements
7. Rethinking Translating Cultures: Cultural Translation and Appropriation in 16th-Century Islamic Spain
Ovidi Carbonell Cortes
8. Epistemic Translation: The Case of al-?intiqad by Ya'qub ?arruf
Haifa Saud Alfaisal
9. Cultural Confluence: Loanwords as Vessels of Culinary and Cultural Exchange in Medieval Islamic Cookbooks: A Pilot Study
Dima Abdul-Jabbar
10. Cultural Confluence: Loanwords as Vessels of Culinary and Cultural Exchange in Cookbooks from the Islamic Golden Age: A Pilot Study
Dima Abdulmajeed Abduljabbar
Index
List of Contributors
Acknowledgement
Introduction: Rethinking Translating Cultures and the Arab World
Moneera Al-Ghadeer
Part I - Translating Cultures: Theoretical Frameworks and Foundational Concepts
1. The Importance of Translation for the Study of Cultures
Susan Bassnett
2. Translating Cultures: Origins and Future Directions
Charles Forsdick
3. Planetary Concept Work: Philology, Untranslatables, Language Justice
Emily Apter
4. Philosophy and Translation in the Arab World
Abdessalam Benabdelali
Part II- Translating Cultures in the Gulf Region: Case Studies and Emerging Paradigms
5. The Specter of Un-translatability and the First Saudi Opera, Zarqa al-Yamama
Moneera Al-Ghadeer
6. Arabophone Cultures of Translation: Patterns and Factors for their Emergence
Andreas Karatsolis and Mohammed Alsudairi
Part III- Historical Perspectives on Cultural and Translational Movements
7. Rethinking Translating Cultures: Cultural Translation and Appropriation in 16th-Century Islamic Spain
Ovidi Carbonell Cortes
8. Epistemic Translation: The Case of al-?intiqad by Ya'qub ?arruf
Haifa Saud Alfaisal
9. Cultural Confluence: Loanwords as Vessels of Culinary and Cultural Exchange in Medieval Islamic Cookbooks: A Pilot Study
Dima Abdul-Jabbar
10. Cultural Confluence: Loanwords as Vessels of Culinary and Cultural Exchange in Cookbooks from the Islamic Golden Age: A Pilot Study
Dima Abdulmajeed Abduljabbar
Index