Inimitability versus translatability: The structure of literary meaning in Arabo-Persian poetics

Gould, Rebecca Ruth

Abstract

Building on the multivalent meanings of the Arabo-Persian tarjama (‘to interpret’, ‘to translate’, ‘to narrate in writing’), this essay examines the doctrine of Qur ’ānic inimitability (icjāz) across Arabic and Persian literary cultures as a way of exploring the contemporary relevance of Islamic rhetoric. Treating the relation between Arabic and Persian as a case study for a theory of translation specific to Islamic literary culture, it argues that the translation of Arabic rhetorical theory (cilm al-balāgha) into Persian marks a turning point in the history of Islamic rhetoric. While examining the implications of Qur ’ānic hermeneutics for translation theory, it considers how the inimitability concept impacts on translatability. Abd al-Qāhir al-Jurjānī’s reflections on nazm (structure) enrich and refine Walter Benjamin’s argument for translatability as a condition of literary language. Viewing Islamic literary aesthetics from the perspective of Benjaminian thinking about language can infuse contemporary translation theory with a richer sense of the translatability of literary texts.

Citation

Gould, R. R. (2013). Inimitability versus translatability: The structure of literary meaning in Arabo-Persian poetics. The Translator, 19(1), 81-104. https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2013.10799520

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 1, 2013
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2013
• Deposit Date: Oct 10, 2023
• Journal: The Translator
• Print ISSN: 1355-6509
• Electronic ISSN: 1757-0409
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 19
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 81-104
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2013.10799520
• Keywords: Translatability, Persian, arabic, Poetry, Walter Benjamin, Structure, Nazm
• Publisher URL: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2227546