The Arabic Language and Folk Literature

Year after year I was greatly amazed to find out that throughout the Arabs' homeland there was not a single compilation of folk tales written in their original dialects and published for general audience reading.

As an admirer of folk traditions, I was badly disappointed. There are only a few collections prepared for scientific purposes and a few others compiled by non-Arabs and translated into English, German or Russian. I do not count those that are stylized or, rather, translated into SA, which are numerous; they are not authentic, no matter how very beautiful, important and strongly expressive SA is in itself.

It is obvious that neither the ideology of Pan-Arabism nor the Islamic dogma favors any attempt to promote spoken dialects. In some Arab countries printing a story or a novel (plays and poems excepted) in the "vulgar language" is nowadays against the law. Extremely dogmatic people will even tell you that there is no such a thing as Arabic dialects! They believe that publishing original tales would jeopardize the Arabs' unity. However, in their homes and in the streets, these very people speak in dialect only.

On the other hand, it is clear to everyone that Arab folktales do exist as they always have existed and that they must be something special, bearing in mind the glorious cultural heritage of the Arabs enriched by Persian and Indian influences. I myself have gathered some of them and was enchanted. Little children all over the world—and the children hidden in all of us grown-ups as well—ought not to be prevented from reading them.

Article from Translation Journal (http://accurapid.com/journal).

chinese translation | japanese translation | korean translation