Israeli Arabic Literature in Hebrew Translation

AbstractThis article offers an overview of the progress of Israeli Arabic literature in Hebrew translation during the years 1948–1994, as seen by a member of the target culture. The history of Israeli Arabic literature and its Hebrew translations is traced against the complex background of Israeli Arab politico-cultural relations, where a combination of target culture attraction to and rejection of the source culture seems to be at work. The detailed study of the translation corpus includes a close analysis of the data and a description of the combined strengths of the two criteria which tend to determine the reception of these translations, namely the political orientation of the source material and the quality of translation. Finally, the exceptionally favourable reception enjoyed by prose writer Emile Habiby is described and explained in terms of the two criteria in question, as well as the catalytic role played by two intercultural Israeli Arab agents: the translator who rendered Habiby’s main work in...