Mohamed Saïd Raïhani Interviewed by
Rebekah Thibadeau, Shaniel Wright & Tiffany St. John
Question: When translating stories, do you ever find yourself at a loss for words?
Raïhani: I
believe one should differentiate between an encyclopaedic translator,
who is always prepared to translate anything across various fields at any time,
and a literary translator, who is either a writer, critic, or an avid
reader of scholarly works and specialises in translating the literary
domain in which he feels most at home.
I am
a prose writer. I write in the fields of Novel, Short Story,
and Short-Short Story… And when it comes to translation, I translate texts
and works belonging to these literary genres without the slightest feeling of
being lost…
Question: Do
you feel that, when you translate stories, it takes away from their cultural
origins?
Raïhani: When
translating a text into another language, many contexts are equally transformed
on multiple levels: socially, politically, culturally, and religiously… shaping
what I call "The spirit of the text" or "the power of
the text" or "the effect of the text" which, if well
managed, protects the text from being detached from its original cultural and
literary roots…
Question: Does
the message of your stories change once they have been translated?
Raïhani: I
am the translator of my own texts. That may sound funny, but the reasons I have
long kept to myself can now make it acceptable.
When
translating other writers' texts into different languages, I surely
must adopt a strict methodology to accurately convey the power and
glossary of the original text into the target language and culture. When
translating other writers' texts, fidelity to the original is a
greater priority than sanctity…
However,
when translating my own works, I tend to take a very different
approach because I see it as a valuable opportunity to add, remove, correct,
and re-write parts of the text — something I can never do once the original has
been published and handed over to the reader under current norms.
Question: Why
not just leave the stories to be told in their original Arabic
language? What is your reason for translating them?
Raïhani: Translation
has many vital functions that, when properly invested in, can yield good
results. For clarification, I can enumerate some of them…
Translation
helps bring cultures together, fostering dialogue between civilisations and
combatting Chauvinism. It remains one of the key values of coexistence and
connection, serving as an effective tool against "Egocentrism"…
The more languages merge, the nearer cultures become.
Another
important goal pursued by translation throughout the centuries is to project a
positive image of oneself in eras of glory, as Japan, the USA, and Europe do
now by exporting their cultures and images to the world in all languages.
Even
on an individual level, translation acts as a mirror reflecting the image of
the self in other people's languages. I can illustrate this with the German
poet and philosopher Wolfgang Goethe, author of "Faust,"
who was greatly surprised upon reading the English version of his book,
noticing newer visions that he had overlooked in the original language of his
own work.
Furthermore,
translation enables a literary work to live in a language through a form of
"cultural rescue," by placing one's cultural creations in the
archives of history during times of collapse, similar to what happened
with Averroes, the greatest Moroccan philosopher, whose entire body of
work written in Arabic was burned in the Middle Ages. Only the Hebraic versions
of his works survived and were subsequently retranslated into Arabic and other
languages over the following centuries. Without the Hebraic copies of his
philosophy, Averroes’s works would have been lost forever.
Question: In the short story, "Love on the Beach," it begins with the line: "Temperature inside her chest exceeds that in mid-August" (Speaking for the Generations: An anthology of Contemporary African Short Stories, Diké Okoro (ed). New Jersey, Trenton: Africa World Press, 2010, p. 159). If temperature is used to indicate her love is 'flaming' for this guy, why did you choose to use this word?
Raïhani: Sometimes, fidelity to the original text wins over any other choice.
Question: Did you originally write the story "Blue Temptation" in English? If not, why did you choose to use the word "haunts" on page 30 to describe how birds build their nests? Why didn't you opt for a different term like "homes" or "nests"?
Raïhani: Fictive text titles are essential for understanding the text itself, grasping its structure, and identifying its mechanisms. Therefore, when translating text titles, it is highly advisable to exercise caution, as any misuse could steer the entire text into new directions of interpretation.
"Blue Temptation" The title of the English version of the short story is given here. In the original Arab text, the title is “Frustrated Birds’ Land”. To reassure the reader, that was the only change made to the text.
The text explores a central longing for freedom through three narrative leaps in attempts to soar high into the sky: the first leap is that of obedience to the established order, with the crippled father serving as a prototype; the second leap is that of recklessness, with the late brother as a model; and the third leap is that of flight and freedom, which is postponed until the end of the text as a decision expressed in "direct speech" that unites the voices of the speaking character within the text with the meditating reader outside it.
"I will fly, daddy, and I will succeed in my try."
"Blue Temptation" may be regarded as an allegory. Hence, words are assumed to be chosen carefully. As far as habitation is concerned, the word "home" is commonly used for humans, while "nest" is nearly restricted to birds. In contrast, "haunt" remains open to all species and is valid for all uses.
