Narrative (re)framing in translating modern Orientalism: a study of the Arabic translation of Lewis’sThe Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror

Modern Orientalism is seen with suspicion and mistrust by many critics. It is widely perceived as a hegemonic discourse with mischievous agendas. In this regard, Edward Said argues that Orientalism is ‘a Western style for dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the Orient’. Bernard Lewis, an expert in contemporary Islam as well as its history, is one of the most controversial Orientalists nowadays. In 2003, he published a very controversial work entitled: The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror. This publication is contested by many critics, especially in the Arab World. Hence, its Arabic translation may be subject to narrative (re)framing as it is accused of being ideologically driven. In this paper, I draw on narrative theory to examine the different ways in which Lewis’s narrative may be (re)framed in its Arabic translation. I examine the geopolitical and cultural contexts in which the source and the target texts appeared, and how these contexts shaped their production. I also identify the different possible narrative (re)framing strategies employed in the translation and the way they relate to the larger meta-narrative in which they are embedded.