Shakespeare in Arabic: A study of the translation, reception, and influence of Shakespeare's drama in the Arab world

Arabic scholars and critics have focused most of the Shakespearian research on interpreting and analyzing Shakespeare's plays and characters while the Arabic translations of Shakespeare's plays have received little study. This study is designed, therefore, to shed light on the history of Arabic translations of Shakespearean drama in its different stages. Also, this study will provide brief analysis of literary translation and the history of Arabic drama.;The possibility of translating literary works faithfully from one language to another is a controversial issue which, historically, has received both support and opposition. While some believe that translating literary works is beneficial, others believe otherwise. Nevertheless, literary translation still represents the only means through which the literary works of Shakespeare can be enjoyed by people in many different languages. Without literary translations, drama would have had little chance to exist in Arabic literature.;Although the Arabs had some genres which contained dramatic elements in their early history, the drama as we know it today was imported from the West and translations played a significant part in that process. The adaptation and translation of Western drama into Arabic, no doubt, opened the door for Arabic playwrights to imitate the Western model.;Shakespeare's translations into Arabic began in the last decade of the Nineteenth Century when few plays were translated into Arabic. These works, however, hardly qualify as translations, since they are barely recognizable as Shakespeare's works. Instead, the rendering of the plays into Arabic between 1890 and 1910 were adaptations rather than translations. From 1910 until 1950, however, Shakespeare's translations into Arabic showed steady improvement although elimination of scenes or parts of scenes and dependence of the translators on foreign translations rather than the English originals still existed. Since the 1950's, the translations of Shakespeare's plays into Arabic have exhibited significant improvement: there is rarely any elimination of lines or words, and none of the translators depend on foreign translations.;With regard to the Arabic criticism of Shakespeare and his influence, all of the Arabic criticism of Shakespeare is favorable. His influence on Arabic playwrights is also very evident in the many attempts of Arabic playwrights who tried to imitate his form as well as his style.