Hebrew-Arabic Translational Communities and the Recuperation of Arab-Jewish Literary Memory

Due to the taboo on normalization of relations with Israel, Hebrew-toArabic literary translations once circulated predominantly in the digital realm. Print editions were confined to expatriate and boutique publishing houses and catered to a small and specialized readership. In 2016, Nael Eltoukhy’s Arabic translation of Almog Behar’s 2010 novel Tchahla ve-Hezkel (Rachel and Ezekiel) was released by the independent Cairo publishing house Al-Kotob Khan to unprecedented visibility in the Arabic book fair circuit. Eltoukhy’s translation work, alongside that of his contemporary Mohammed Abud, signals a departure from the largely contentious frames of reference that have long dictated the tenor of Hebrew-to-Arabic translation practices. My study proposes a model of recuperative translation through which Arab-Jewish literary memory is made visible to an Arab readership. I identify translation as the site of a dynamic cultural encounter through which the Arab-Jew—as fiction, historical memory, political potential, author, friend, and colleague—is occupying an increasingly prominent position among Arab literary communities in digital and physical space. My article closes with reflections on the European metropole, specifically Berlin, as the potential site of a creative crossroads where a new Arabic literary tradition with Arab-Jewish participation is emerging