Translator-oriented Translation Criticism: The Case of Roger Allen’s Translation of Khan al-Khalili

Abstract

Situated within translator studies, the present paper adopts Berman’s (1995) translator-oriented approach to translation criticism to analyze the English translation of Naguib Mahfouz’s Khan al-Khalili by Roger Allen. The paper analyzes two sets of data related not only to the translated novel but also to the translator as a cultural agent. The first set includes a collection of paratexts produced by Allen, including articles, interviews, introductions, and afterwords. The second set of data includes the Arabic and English versions of Khan al-Khalili. The paratextual data was analyzed to reveal Allen's translating position, horizon, and project, while the second set was analyzed to reveal the extent to which Allen's project is aligned with his translation of Khan al-Khalili. The result of the analysis revealed that Allen’s project is aligned with his translation, which produced a foreignized version of the novel that introduces the reader to Arab culture. Keywords: Translation Criticism, Translator Studies, Roger Allen, Arabic Literature in Translation, Naguib Mahfouz.