Babel - Volume 71, Issue 6, 2025

Abstract

The concept of “translating cultures” embodies a dynamic interplay between translation and culture, suggesting both their complementarity and consubstantiality. This special issue emerges from the work of the UNESCO Chair in Translating Cultures, established in 2023 with the support of the Literature, Publishing, and Translation Commission in Saudi Arabia. It builds upon three decades of scholarship to critically re-examine foundational assumptions within this field, situating its exploration of translating cultures within the Arab cultural context while engaging with global discourses and research from both the Global North and Global South. This exploration is centered within the Arab cultural context, highlighting the historical significance of translating cultures in the Arab world and the emergence of Arabia, particularly the Gulf, as a key center for Arabophone translation. The four articles within this collection demonstrate how the translation of Arabic language and cultures is not only a linguistic act but also a vehicle for cultural adaptation, dialogue, and inclusion. By challenging Eurocentric paradigms and embracing geo-linguistic diversity, these essays mark an epistemological shift in translation studies, advocating for a critical reassessment of historical and methodological frameworks. Through interdisciplinary engagement, this issue calls for a more inclusive and reflexive approach to understanding translating cultures in a globalized world.

Abstract

This study investigates the role of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in enhancing Sino-Arab cultural exchanges through intercultural translation, focusing specifically on Arabic-Chinese and Chinese-Arabic translations. It evaluates various factors, including accuracy, reliability, speed, usability, and user trust in AI-powered translation technologies, while addressing their impact on intercultural communication and the preservation of cultural nuances. A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining quantitative surveys from 120 students with qualitative interviews from 20 participants. Findings reveal a high level of user satisfaction regarding the speed, ease of use, and accuracy of AI tools such as ChatGPT and DeepL, particularly for routine translation tasks. Nevertheless, challenges were observed in translating idiomatic expressions and cultural nuances, prompting users to make manual adjustments to the translated texts. Trust in AI tools was notably strong for everyday use; however, concerns emerged regarding their reliability in high-stakes contexts, such as academic and professional settings. The findings suggest that AI tools can play a transformative role in enhancing translation efficiency. Nonetheless, their limitations in managing cultural sensitivity and nuanced contexts highlight the necessity for human intervention. This study underscores the importance of advancing the cultural intelligence of AI systems to foster a deeper intercultural understanding and integration into educational and professional environments.

Abstract

This study examines the linguistic mechanisms through which the concept of “nation” was transferred into Arabic in the nineteenth century via translation from French. Initially untranslatable, the term was rendered using religiously charged words such as milla and ṭā’ifa, reflecting the sociopolitical framework of the time, where identity was primarily defined by religious affiliation rather than territorial or political structures. Through diachronic corpus analysis, this research traces how Arabic translators, influenced by the Napoleonic Expedition and the works of Rifā’a Al-Ṭahṭāwī, gradually adapted the concept into the secular geopolitical term umma. A key component of this study is the corpus analysis of umma, examining its frequency and collocations in nineteenth-century Arabic texts, including intellectual writings and newspapers. Findings reveal that while umma initially coexisted with religious terms, it increasingly collocated with geopolitical and nationalist adjectives, reflecting its semantic shift. Moreover, as umma became central in nationalist discourse, it also played a key role in feminist writings, particularly in the works of Qāsim Amīn, where the elevation of the nation was closely tied to women’s education and empowerment. This study highlights how translation and linguistic contact shaped Arabic political discourse, national identity, and early feminist thought.

Abstract

The translation of culturally embedded legal concepts presents a significant challenge, particularly when direct linguistic equivalents are absent. This study examines the case of mahr — the obligatory financial gift from a groom to a bride in Islamic marriage — within the Polish linguistic and socio-legal context. While mahr holds religious, legal, and cultural significance in Islamic law, Polish marital traditions lack a direct counterpart. The study investigates how mahr is rendered in Polish academic and public discourse, analyzing translation strategies, their legal and cultural implications, and the broader issue of untranslatability in cross-cultural legal adaptation. This study employs a mixed-methods approach, combining content analysis of 30 academic texts to examine translation strategies for mahr in Polish discourse with a nationwide survey of 180 young Polish speakers to assess public understanding and interpretation of the term, providing both qualitative and quantitative insights into the challenges of translating culturally specific legal concepts. Through content analysis of academic texts and a survey of young Polish speakers, the findings reveal a predominant reliance on borrowing, alongside various adaptation techniques. However, frequent mistranslations equating mahr with Polish historical marital institutions such as posag, wiano, and oprawa wdowia highlight the risks of conceptual distortion. The study argues that the most accurate approach is foreignization — retaining mahr in its original form with contextual explanation — to preserve its legal and cultural integrity. The results contribute to broader translation studies, emphasizing the need for interdisciplinary approaches in translating culturally specific legal terms, particularly in an increasingly globalized world.

Abstract

This paper pursues a two — fold approach to reconceptualize the foreignizing and domesticating literary translation of Arab culture(s). First, it intends to conduct a chronological study that spans a vast historical period within translation studies to foster a richer and more comprehensive understanding of the historical and theoretical underpinnings of both strategies across several significant eras and areas. It addresses questions such as when, where, how, and why these strategies have been utilized and invoked in both Western and Eastern traditions. It concludes that these strategies are viewed as acts fundamental to the translation process, aiming to bridge linguistic, constitutive, communicative, cultural, and intercultural gaps between the source and target texts/cultures, guided by prevailing approaches, theories, and trends in translation, literature, language, communication, culture, etc., and for achieving specific purposes (religious, political, colonial, humanistic, etc.). Based on insights from this historical analysis, the paper endeavors to establish theoretical foundations for approaching the literary translation of Arab culture(s), emphasizing the increasing necessity for collaboration across the humanities and social sciences. It advocates reimagining these epistemological shifts in this reconceptualization by embracing a growing emphasis on a multidisciplinary approach. Disciplines such as linguistics, communication studies, cultural studies, philosophy, history, and literature can all enhance our understanding of the complex processes involved in the transmission and dissemination of Arab culture(s). Furthermore, the paper’s chronological grounding challenges the notion that translation studies are solely a Western domain and underscores the importance of foregrounding the Global South within this field.

This article reviews Recent Advances in Multiword Units in Machine Translation and Translation Technology

This article reviews Feminist Activism, Travel and Translation Around 1900: Transnational Practices of Mediation and the Case of Käthe Schirmacher

This article reviews Mother Tongues and Other Tongues: Creating and Translating Sinophone Poetry