Arab Egyptian Feminist Voices in Translation: The Case of Women and Memory Forum

1. Introduction

The cultural turn in translation studies allowed translation to be tackled from a perspective that does not only include linguistics, but also other social and ideological dimensions. One of these perspectives that this intersection brought to light is the feminist translation theory; it is a theory that “opens a new door for translation studies from a gender perspective, requiring a female translator to be in a dominant position, which differs from traditional translation studies” (Sun, 2021, p. 276). In this light, a feminist approach to translation proved to be an effective tool for raising awareness about women’s rights (Eligedi, 2020), criticizing patriarchy in language (Flotow, 1991), and aiding the process of women writing their own story (Abou Rached, 2020). In Egypt, the Arab Egyptian feminists of Women and Memory Forum (WMF) also use translation as a tool to change negative representations and perceptions of Arab women through translating scholarly material about gender into Arabic because there is a scarcity of research in Arabic language that addresses feminism and gender (Kamal, 2015). The scholarly material that translators of WMF translated is published in a series of ‘Readers’ on gender in humanities and social sciences. These series of ‘Readers’ are given the name of Feminist Translations and are divided into seven ‘Readers’ that are related to history, religion, political science, feminist literary criticism, psychology, and gender. This study aims to investigate the translation strategies used by WMF translators in the translation of articles in three ‘Readers’ from the Feminist Translations project: The Reader on Feminism and Literary Criticism, The Reader on Gender and Political Science, and The Reader on Feminism and Psychology. The study specifically examines the paratextual elements used in the three ‘Readers’, the strategies used in the translation of gender-related terms, and the gender-fair language strategies used in the target text.

1.2 Research Problem

            When it comes to previous studies conducted on the strategies used by feminist translators, it is clear that a lot of research has been done on how western women translate the works of Arab women (e.g., Amireh, 2000; Booth, 2008; Hassen, 2009; Hartman, 2012; Al- Ramadan, 2017; Abou Rached, 2017; Salah, 2018; Benmessaoud, 2020; Embabi, 2020). However, very little is said about how Arab women translate works of western women (e.g. Hilal, 2020; Kamal, 2016; Kamal, 2022; Sami, 2020). In addition, gender and translation has become a rich field of research that further liberated translation from the stereotypes that allocate translation as a derivative literary practice. Therefore, it would be interesting to draw a discussion that cross references the practice of Arab Egyptian feminist translators with that of the western Canadian feminist translators to further enrich gender and translation research in this area.

• Research Objectives

The study aims to investigate the translation strategies used by WMF translators in order to discern the existence or lack of Arab Egyptian feminist translation approach to bridge the gap in research tackling Arabic feminist translations. The study also aims to draw a discussion that cross references the Arab Egyptian feminist practice with that of the Canadian feminist translation practice. The Canadian feminist approach is chosen for the process of drawing a discussion because it is considered the founding practice of feminist translation approach in the field of translation studies. Therefore, cross referencing the Arab Egyptian feminist translation approach with that of the Canadian would allow a deeper understanding of how the feminist approach is appropriated by Arab feminist translators (Al Awawdeh, 2023).  This is done through the investigation of translation para-/textual choices or strategies used by Arab Egyptian feminist translators of WMF. The study specifically focuses on examining paratextual elements (prefaces, footnotes, glossaries, and forewords), translation strategies, and gender-fair language strategies. This study aims to specifically analyze these three parameters because they pave the way for a discussion that cross references the translation strategies used by Arab Egyptian feminist translators and the translation strategies used by Canadian feminist translators: prefacing and footnoting, supplementing, and hijacking (Flotow, 1991).

• Research Questions

The study seeks to answer the following research questions:

1. How far do the textual choices and paratextual elements in WMF source and translated texts showcase the existence/or lack thereof of a systematic approach for feminist translational parameter in Arabic?
2. How far does the discerned Arab translational feminist approach differ from or concur with the Canadian approach?
   • Research Significance

The significance of the study lies in the fact that there is a research gap concerning the Arab Egyptian feminist translation practice, therefore, bridging the gap in research would be important to emphasize the diversity included in the field of gender and translation studies. Additionally, the discussion that cross references the practice of Arab Egyptian feminist translators with that of Canadian feminist translators holds significance as it contributes to the formulation of a scientific perspective that draws upon the importance of having distinctive varieties of the same approach to further assert the importance of appropriating an approach in order to cater for different cultural perspectives (Al Awawdeh, 2023).

• Key Concepts in this Study
  • Paratextual Elements

Batchlor (2018) defines paratexts in translation studies as any material additional to, appended to, or external to the main text. These paratextual elements have the function of explaining, defining, instructing, supporting, adding background information, and including relevant opinions of scholars, translators and reviewers. In translation studies, paratexts are places where translators can convey their own agenda. In other words, translators can signal sympathy or antipathy in these paratexts. Examples of paratexts are prefaces, footnotes, book covers, glossaries, and forewords. The paratextual elements that this study aims to investigate are prefaces, forewords, footnotes and glossaries.

• Gender-fair Language Strategies

In this study, the term gender-fair language strategies refers to the strategies used by translators in order to make the feminine aspect more vivid in the target text’s language instead of using the masculine form alone in the target text, or through neutralizing words to hide the gender of the referent. The two strategies for creating gender-fair language are feminization and neutralization. These two gender-fair language strategies are used in this study to examine the language of the target text when it comes to the translation of titles, positions, and roles.

• Readers

Throughout this study, the words ‘Reader’ and ‘Readers’ are used to refer to the books that are created by the women of WMF as a part of the series Feminist Translations. Each Reader in this series is made up of a group of translated articles. This study opts for using the word ‘Reader’ and ‘Readers’ when referring to the books, because that is the official word used by the women of WMF on their official website when referring to the books that belong to the Feminist Translations series.

1.6.4 Vinay and Darbelnet’s (1995) Translation Procedures

linguistic turn also includes Vinay and Darbelnet (1995) translation procedures. The translation procedures include seven different strategies that can be used by professional translators in order to translate words from one language to the other. These procedures are borrowing, calque, literal translation, transposition, modulation, equivalence, and adaptation. The notion of procedures in general differs from the notion of strategies.  A strategy is the overall orientation of the translation, where the translator opts for either adopting free or literal translation in the target text. When it comes to procedures, it is the specific techniques or method used by the translator in certain parts of the text. For instance, like borrowing a word from a source language or explaining a term or a concept in footnotes (Munday, 2016). Thus, when used in an analysis of any translated text, procedure can yield a more accurate result rather than generally focusing on the main strategy of the entire translation approach.

1.6.5 Feminist Translation Strategies

There are various strategies that are used and commonly shared among feminist translators in order to feminize language: these strategies are supplementing, prefacing and footnoting, and high jacking (Flotow, 1991).  According to Flotow (1991), Supplementing is when a source text is supplemented in its translations, matured developed, and given an afterlife. It is where the feminist translator would over translate in order to recoup for certain losses by intervening and supplementing parts of the text to make the feminine more visible. This is done through supplementing the loss of feminine forms in the process of translation by adding a ‘she’ or ‘her’ in the target text. In addition, the use of prefacing, footnoting, or in other words the use of paratexts, is employed as a means of intervention by the feminist translator to provide the desired effect of the visibility of the translator. This is done through the use of long prefaces that signal the agenda of the translator and footnotes that keep interfering with the process of reading in the margins of the page. The final strategy is high jacking, where the feminist translator takes the text and makes it her own. This is achieved through telling the readers that the translator aims to make her voice heard throughout the text. It is also created through the deliberate feminization of the text, making the process of translation an act of rewriting and not just merely translating and thus the feminist translator becomes a second author rather than a mere invisible translator.

As mentioned previously, when it comes to previous studies conducted on the strategies used by feminist translators, it is clear that a lot of research has been done on how western women translate the works of Arab women (e.g., Amireh, 2000; Booth, 2008; Hassen, 2009; Hartman, 2012; Al- Ramadan, 2017; Abou Rached, 2017; Salah, 2018; Benmessaoud, 2020; Embabi, 2020). However, very little is said about how Arab women translate works of western women (e.g. Hilal, 2020; Kamal, 2016; Kamal, 2022; Sami, 2020). Even when the strategies used by Arab translators are investigated, the research is done on how they translate literary content rather than academic and informative materials. This discrepancy becomes evident when considering examples of academic informative content, such as scientific articles, essays, reports, news, and textbooks.  The only scholar who provided a feminist translation analysis of informative texts is Kamal (2016), who reflected on her own translation of academic informative material related to feminism and literary criticism. Therefore, there is clear evidence that there is a lack of research done on Arabic feminist academic translations and the strategies used by Arab feminist translators.

2. Data Description & Methodology
   • Data Description and Rationale

            WMF was founded in 1995 by a group of women researchers, academics, and activists. These women are concerned with the prevailing negative representations and perceptions of Arab women in the Arab cultural sphere because these dominant cultural views hinder Arab women’s development and rights attainment. They also believe that the main obstacle Arab women face is the scarcity of alternative cultural information and knowledge about the role of women in history and in contemporary society. Therefore, their main goal is to produce and provide alternative cultural information about Arab women. Through their efforts, WMF seeks to challenge stereotypes, broaden perspectives, and foster a more nuanced understanding of Arab women's lives and their significant impact on various aspects of society.

            One of the main tools used to achieve this goal is translation, where the women of WMF conducted an ongoing translation project called Translating Gender, which aims to translate scholarly material about gender into Arabic. The Translating Gender project includes two translation projects. The first is a translation of the Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures originally published in English by E. J. Brill (Leiden, 2003) and edited by Suad Joseph into Arabic. The second project includes published series of ‘Readers’ on gender in humanities and social sciences. These Readers include selected translated articles into Arabic in aim of being used as gender tools of analysis to be incorporated in teaching curricula, because according to the women of WMF, there is a scarcity of scholarly material and information on gender in Arabic.

The study aims to investigate three ‘Readers’ only from the second translation project called Feminist translations. The first ‘Reader’ is The Reader on Gender and Political Science, edited by Mervat Hatem and translated by Shohrat El-Alem (2010), which includes a collection of important articles on gender and political science. The second ‘Reader’ is The Reader on Feminism and Literary Criticism, edited and translated by Hala Kamal (2015), which includes a collection of translated articles that highlight the importance of feminism in the criticism of literary and translated works. The third ‘Reader’ is The Reader on Feminism and Psychology, edited by Afaf Mahfouz and translated by Aida Seif El-Dawla (2016), which highlights the importance of having a feminist perspective in the study of psychology. It is important to highlight that in each Reader, the editor of the ‘Reader’ is the one responsible for choosing the articles and the order of their presentation in the ‘Reader’. It is important to highlight that The Reader on Feminism and Literary Criticism is the only reader that include its editor as its translator.

            The three ‘Readers’ are chosen for analysis for three main reasons. First, these three ‘Readers’ include a translator’s preface, which is not available in all seven ‘Readers’. Second, the three Readers include a rich amount of gender and feminism related terminology translated into Arabic, which allows the inclusion of a thorough analysis of the translation strategies used by Arab Egyptian feminist translators. Finally, the analysis of these language domains allows the inclusion of a thorough description and contextualization of the most challenging gender and feminism related terms, which cannot be made possible if all seven ‘Readers’ are investigated.

• Methodology

2.2.1 Theoretical Framework

This study will use the following tools to examine the translation strategies used by Arab Egyptian feminist translators of WMF: Batchelor’s (2018) paratextual typologies, Vinay and Darbelnet’s (1995) translation procedures, Sczesny et al. (2016) Gender-fair language strategies, and Flotow’s (1991) feminist translation strategies. The analysis will be divided into four sections: the first section will tackle the analysis of the paratextual elements used in the translations, the second section will include the analysis of translation strategies used in the translation of gender-related terms, the third section will include the analysis of the language used in the translations, and the fourth section will include the discussion.

According to Batchelor’s (2018, p. 32), paratexts are “places where translators can ‘signal their agenda’ or their ideological sympathy or antipathy towards the author or text.” Therefore, analyzing their function, which will take place in the first section, can be useful for two reasons: first, it will help in identifying factors that govern the practice of Arab Egyptian feminists, and second, it will help in drawing a clearer cross referencing with the Canadian strategies of prefacing and footnoting (Flotow, 1991). In other words, Batchelor’s (2018) detailed translation and paratexts theoretical framework will be used to identify the paratextual elements used by Arab Egyptian feminist translators of WMF. According to Batchelor (2018), there are five main characteristics that lie at the heart of paratextual typology: space, substance, time, senders and addresses, and function, which are also going to be used in the analysis process.

The second section will include the analysis of the translation of gender-related terms using Vinay and Darbelnet’s (1995) translation procedures. Vinay and Darbelnet’s (1995) translation procedures are chose for analysis because the study mainly focuses on the strategies used in the translation of gender and feminism related terms, positions, and titles. Vinay and Darbelnet’s (1995) include seven different procedures used in the translation of words from one language to the other; all seven procedures will be used in the process of analysis. These procedures are: borrowing, calque, literal translation, transposition, modulation, equivalence, and adaptation. Vinay and Darbelnet’s (1995) detailed translation procedures will also help in providing a detailed and clearer understanding of the strategies used by Egyptian feminist translators and the ideological purposes behind using certain strategies more than others. In addition, the most commonly used strategies can then be cross referenced with that of the Canadian most commonly used translation strategies: prefacing and footnoting, supplementing, and hijacking (Flotow, 1991).

The third section will examine the language of the target text using Sczesny et al. (2016) gender-fair language strategies: neutralization and feminization. Neutralization is achieved through replacing male-masculine forms like (policeman) with gender unmarked forms like (police officer). Feminization is the use of feminine forms to make female referents visible; for instance, using ‘he’ or ‘she’ instead of only ‘he’ in a sentence (Sczesny et al., 2016). This will also help in drawing a clear comparison between the approach of Egyptian feminists and the approach of Canadian feminists with what relates to the process of feminizing language (Flotow, 1991). The fourth and final section will include the findings of all previously mentioned sections to cross reference the approach of Arab Egyptian feminist translators with that of Canadian feminist translators.

2.2.2 Research Design

The study adopts a qualitative approach. The qualitative approach is used in order to explain the main tenets that govern the Arab Egyptian Feminist translation practice and cross reference it with that of the Canadian feminist translation practice. It is also used to interpret and analyze the translation of articles provided in the three ‘Readers’.

2.2.3 Data Collection

     The three ‘Readers’ chosen for analysis are downloaded from WMF’s official website (wmf.org.eg). When it comes to the texts from which the ‘Readers’ are created, they are downloaded from various sources on the internet. The process of obtaining the source texts with the exact editions was made possible because of the information provided by the editors of WMF when it comes to describing the articles provided in each ‘Reader’

3. Samples of Analysis

3.1 Paratextual Elements

            According to Batchelor’s (2018), paratexts are any material added/appended or is external to the core text. Paratexts have a function of explaining, defining, instructing, supporting, or adding background information and relevant opinions and attitudes of scholars, translators and reviewers. In translation, paratexts are often used to show how texts are presented, but not how they are; it is where the authors, reviewers, or translators include their own understanding, reading, or interpretation of the text and thus influencing the readers’ understanding of the text instead of readers having their own interpretation of the text. In other words, it is a place where translators can signal their agenda or ideological stance towards the author of the text. In the three ‘Readers’ from Feminist Translations series, different types of paratextual elements are used by editors and translators. Paratextual elements in these three ‘Readers’ include forewords, prefaces, footnotes, in text explanations, and glossaries. 

 First of all, when it comes to prefaces, all Readers have the same foreword at the beginning of the ‘Reader’ that is added by the forum to highlight that the ‘Reader’ belongs to the Feminist Translations series and has a specific societal purpose (the foreword will be commented on and analyzed fully later on in this section). All chosen ‘Readers’ include a preface by the editor, who rationalizes and comments on the choice of the articles presented and their order, and a preface by the translator, who comments on the translation process and identifies certain challenges faced and strategies chosen in the translation process. It is important to note that sometimes when the editor is the translator, the two prefaces are merged into one with sections dividing comments between the choice of articles and translation challenges and strategies.

All translators used footnotes throughout the ‘Readers’. However, they were mainly made for the purpose of providing the original reference or term in English. In addition, some translators included glossaries at the end of the ‘Reader’ while others did not. Samples concerning these two main points will be provided, interpreted, and commented on fully later on in this section.

The following figure is a sample of the foreword included in each ‘Reader’. The same wording is included in all forewords. However, the name of the book, the editor, translator, and publishing dates are changed to suit the information about each ‘Reader’. The forward is written in Arabic (the language of the target text) and it is not clear who wrote it. However, it is clear from the signature at the end that it is issued by the forum itself. It is also important to emphasize that the translation of the foreword in this section is provided by the researcher of this study to allow an easier follow up for those that do not speak Arabic. This foreword is chosen from The Reader on Gender and Political Science because it was the first published ‘Reader’ in the series.

Figure 1

 Political Science Arabic Foreword

Figure 2

 Political Science Foreword (English Translation)

            The foreword sets the reasoning or purpose behind initiating such a series. This includes raising awareness about Arab women’s social role, facing prevailing misconceptions about Arab women, and disseminating and increasing knowledge in the Arab region about feminism and gender. As mentioned before, the foreword is given at the very beginning of each ‘Reader’ with only changing the ending information about the editor, the translator, and the name of the ‘Reader’ to suit each ‘Reader’ individually. The foreword is of extreme importance because it sets the objective of the entire translation series and clarifies the ideological stance of the group of editors and translators in specific and the forum itself in general. Therefore, the purpose or the function of this foreword is to explain the purpose of the translation project, define its parameters, instruct readers of the book’s importance and give background information about the scholars who chose and translated articles included in the book.  In addition, it is clear that this foreword includes a high level of agency in its language. First, agency is achieved through the use of first person in “we seek” and “we hope”. The use of first person “we” does not only emphasize the agency, but also amplifies it by highlighting that it is a work done by a group of people trying to affect change and not just one person, correspondingly, amplifying the sense of solidarity among the women working on this project.  This can also be traced through the use of active voice in “Women and Memory’s main goal is to support” and “As part of the efforts of Women and Memory to support curricula of feminist thought and analysis in the Arab world”. By using this structure, the doer is amplified along with the purpose of the action. Both, the language and the function of the foreword, set a foreshadowing tone that the visibility of the editor and translators will be amplified throughout the reading of the translated text and that their interference will be like that of a teacher introducing a new piece of information to his/her students. 

            When it comes to prefaces, it is important to highlight that the length of each book’s translator’s preface differs according to whether the translator is the editor or not. For instance, the longest preface in the three ‘Readers’ is that of Kamal’s who was both the editor and translator for The Reader on Feminism and Literary Criticism, with the total of 44 pages preface that introduces the ‘Readers’ to the concept of feminist literary studies, rational behind choosing selected articles, and the feminist translation techniques intended to be used in the translation process of the collected articles. When it comes to the other two ‘Readers’, The Reader on Gender and Political Science includes two prefaces: a 3 pages long preface for the editor, discussing the development of the notion of gender and feminist studies in political science and a 2 pages preface for the translator, in which the translator discusses the challenges faced in the translation process and the techniques used in overcoming them. The Reader on Feminism and Psychology also includes two prefaces: 2 pages preface for the translator and 3 pages preface for the editor. The editor’s preface discusses the development of feminism in psychology and mentions that before each article, the editor will provide a rationale behind including it in the ‘Reader’. The translator also comments on the challenges faced in translating specific terms and gender related terms and techniques used in overcoming them. It can be concluded that the prefaces written by the editors have the function of explaining, defining, instructing, supporting, or adding background information.  The translators’ prefaces, on the other hand, offer a solution, rationale, and justification for translation choices that suit the agenda of the entire translation project.

3.2 Translation Strategies

In their book, Stylistique comparée du français et de l'anglais : méthode de traduction, Vinay and Darbelnet (1995) proposed a model of translation procedures that  include seven different procedures that can be used by professional translators in order to translate words from one language to the other. These procedures are borrowing, calque, literal translation, transposition, modulation, equivalence, and adaptation. Since all translators of WMF are translation practitioners, it is clear that using Vinay and Darbelnet’s (1995) translation procedures will help understand the textual strategical translation practice and help identify which translation strategy is mostly used in the translation of terms from the fields of gender and feminism studies.

However, before starting the tracing of which translation strategy is mostly used among the three ‘Readers’, it is clear from the prefaces of translators that each translator opted for providing their own rationale behind sticking to certain translation strategies in the translation process. The debates in translation prefaces were mostly about whether they will opt for domesticating or foreignizing gender and feminism related terms (Venuti, 1995). Some translators, like Aida Seif El Dawla in her translation of feminism and psychology related terms, decided to opt for a mixed approach in the translation process, stating that her main aim is to stick to whatever option facilitates the transference of intended meaning. As for Hala Kamal, she stated in her preface that her main aim is to foreignize the terms. Despite pinpointing the differences in the translation practice among WMF translators, there are still similarities that govern the translation process of the project. These similarities include frequently providing the foreign term in English between brackets beside its translation, providing the names of books in English beside their Arabic translation, and providing the names of scholars and writers also in English beside the Arabic transliterated name in the target text. The following samples include examples of this translation technique in the three ‘Readers’.

Table 1

 Translation of Terms

Sample number 1 is taken from “Towards a Feminist Poetics” and is translated by Hala Kamal in The Reader on Feminism and Literary Criticism. In this excerpt, Newton (1997) argues that there are two distinct varieties of feminist criticism. The first one is feminist critique, which is concerned with women as Readers of male-produced literature. The second one is concerned with constructing a female framework for analyzing literature written by women. The translator of sample number 2 opts for literally translating the term ‘feminist critique’ and providing the original term next to it and between brackets in English. Here, the main procedure used is ‘literal translation’; the source term is literally translated and not transliterated or ‘borrowed’. In addition, the term is neither explained in footnotes nor defined in the glossary at the end of the book, achieving foreignizing effect in the target text.

Sample number 2 is taken from Psychoanalysis and Women and is translated by Aida Seif El Dawla in The Reader on Feminism and Psychology. Unlike sample number 1, sample number 2 does not include the original English terms between brackets in the translation of the terms ‘penis envy’ and ‘phallic mother’. The first is an idea in psychoanalytical theory theorized by Sigmund Freud regarding the psychosexual development of females in which young girls feel anxious about not having a penis (Yadav, 2018). The latter is about the phallic stage in early childhood where children of both sexes attribute having a penis to the mother (Yadav, 2018). Even though both terms are not included in English, still, the same translation technique is utilized by the translator where the terms were also translated literally instead of being elaborated on in the paraphrased translation, achieving the same ambiguity effect and introduction of foreign terms into Arabic. It is also important to highlight that the terms in sample number 2 are not explained in footnotes and the The Reader on Feminism and Psychology does not include a glossary at the end of the book that explains these two terms.

The following table includes samples of how names of books and authors were translated by translators of WMF.

Table 2

 Translation of Book Titles and Names

Sample number 1 is taken from Feminist Challenges to Political Science and is translated by Shahrat El Alam in The Reader on Gender and Political Science. In this excerpt, Carroll and Zerilli (1993) recite the name of the book Bananas, Beaches, and Bases and the name of its author as an example of one of the very first academic works that rethink politics from a feminist perspective. In her translation, El Alam opts for providing the name of the English reference the same way it was presented in the English source text. This is done by providing the name of the book in English in the target text rather than translating or transliterating the name of the book into Arabic. In this sample, none of the procedures suggested by Vinay and Darbelnet (1995) were used. However, the title can still be dealt with as a loan word without an explanation or ‘borrowing’ because, even though it was not transliterated into Arabic, it is still there in the Arabic text in its original calligraphic presentation. This creates the same effect when opting to translate a specific term through literally translating it, like in samples number 1 and 2 from table 1. Even in this part, the reader is provided with the English name of the book to be able to search it easily in case they want to read more about the topic being discussed. When it comes to the rest of the samples in table 2, the titles of the books are literally translated into the target text. The title of the book is written in English beside the translated title to achieve the same previously mentioned effect. When it comes to the name of authors and scholars in table 2, they were all transliterated or ‘borrowed’ into Arabic with the name written in English right next to it.

             It is clear from the analysis of table 1, which includes the translation of specific terms and table 2, which includes the translation of names and book titles, that in all cases of translation, whether the procedure of transliteration (borrowing)  or literal translation is used, most of the time, the translators opt for providing the original reference in English in the target text in order to allow readers to further search the topic or term on the internet easily and to also canonize the usage of the term to create the language for research in Arabic. The foreigniznig translation technique also allows the continual process of learning rather than just sticking to the knowledge presented in the translated content. In other words, the translation techniques used have an educational dimension to them. This means that the translators here play the role of a teacher providing references for their students to expand their reading list about the topic they are reading and thus helping students/readers by unlimiting knowledge access, ensuring proper learning, and providing information that clarifies concepts.

3.3 Gender-fair Language Strategies

According to Sczesny et al. (2016), Gender-fair language includes two main strategies: neutralization and feminization. First, neutralization can be done through replacing male-masculine forms like (policeman) with gender unmarked forms like (police officer), while feminization is the use of feminine forms to make female referents visible like using ‘he’ or ‘she’ instead of only ‘he’. The articles included in the three ‘Readers’ are translated from English into Arabic. Therefore, it is important to shed light on the notion that the English language in general, is a more gender neutral than Arabic, especially that Arabic includes feminine and masculine forms of words even if the original word is gender neutral in English. It is important to note that when it comes to the generalized reference terms to a group of people that includes both men and women, the masculine form is often chosen while referring to this group in Arabic. Therefore, it becomes a necessity to investigate how the translators of WMF dealt with this Arabic linguistic phenomenon in the translation of job titles, positions, and roles.  The following table includes some samples of incidents where feminizing language strategies were used.

Table 3

Gender-Fair Language Strategies

Sample number 1 is taken from “Beyond equality: gender, justice, and difference” by Flax (1992) and is translated by Shahrat El Alam in The Reader on Gender and Political Science. In this part of the article, Flax (1992) is discussing the importance of feminist and postmodernist theorists in changing notions that govern modern liberal thought through persuading others that justice and truth are of this world and that their existence depends solely on “our fragile and unstable selves” (p. 208). In this excerpt presented in table 3, ‘theorist’ in English is a gender neutral term that refers to a person concerned with the theoretical aspects of a subject. When this term is translated into Arabic, however, it is mostly translated into the masculine form. In sample number 1, El Alam provides both the masculine and feminine forms of the word in Arabic, thus, utilizing the strategy of feminization in order to create a sense of inclusiveness that allows women to be visible in language instead of abiding by the Arabic linguistic norms and translating the term only in the masculine form. 

When it comes to sample number 2, it is taken from “Dancing Through the Minefield: some observations on the theory, practice and politics of a feminist literary criticism” by Kolodny (1980) and translated by Hala Kamal in The Reader on Feminism and Literary Criticism. In this part of the article, Kolodny (1980) is discussing the importance of the success of the return of circulation to previously ignored works by women writers and how this phenomenon radically reshaped literature history. The context of the excerpt also discusses how this is being investigated by academics as well as their students as to why these works ever disappeared from the canons of major works in literature. In this part, the word ‘students’ is gender neutral in English, as it refers to both men and women. However, when translated into Arabic, the same issue as sample number 1, the masculine form is often prioritized in Arabic to stand as a reference for both male and female students. Therefore, Kamal feminizes the term in Arabic by providing both masculine and feminine forms of the word ‘students’ in Arabic.

Following that, sample number 3, is an excerpt taken from “Edith Jacobson Forty Years in Germany (1897-1938)” by Schröter et al. (2004) and is translated by Seif El Dawla in The Reader on Feminism and Psychology. The excerpt of the source text comes at the very beginning of an article that discusses the life of the influential female psychologist Jacobson and her contribution to feminist psychoanalysis. In this excerpt, the word ‘see’ is directed at both male and female readers. However, like in samples number 1 and 2, when this is translated into Arabic, it is often translated into the masculine form. However, Seif El Dawla opted for providing the ‘/ي’, which is in Arabic a marker for the feminine form. Thus, through adding the slash and the letter, this allows the reader to read the word in both its feminine and masculine forms and thus utilizing the strategy of feminization in translating the word ‘see’.

It is clear from the analysis of the three samples that the most dominant strategy used in the process of creating a gender-fair language in the target text is feminization.  All translators provided both masculine and feminine forms in the target text for the source’s gender neutral terms. This could be due to the restricting Arabic linguistic norms that do not allow the process of neutralizing terms unless a new term is coined in Arabic that creates neutrality. However, coining gender neutral terms, with what was at the time a foreign content, would have made the reading process difficult and confusing. So opting for feminizing language in the three ‘Readers’ allowed the translators of WMF to add the sense of inclusivity in the target text’s Arabic language without including a sense of confusion.

• Preliminary Discussion

From the analysis done in the previous sections, it is clear that one could start drawing similarities and differences in the practice and the function of the texts being translated by Egyptian feminist translators and Canadian feminist translators. When it comes to the practice, it is clear that some strategies are commonly used by both groups of feminist translators, while other strategies stand uniquely to the usage of one group. As for the function, it is clear that on the macro level, both groups of feminist translators have the same macro goal behind translating certain texts. But when it comes to the micro level in addressing the achievement of this goal, each group chose a different method through focusing on different aspects starting from the choice of the texts being translated to the strategies employed in the translation. In other words, both groups use translation of certain texts to amplify the importance of attaining women’ s’ right globally; however, each chose a different set of texts when it comes to the circulation of knowledge about gender. Therefore, the comparison will be made on the level of strategies used in the translation process and the functionality of the entire translation process. 

            On the level of strategies, Canadian feminist translators utilize the following strategies in the process of translation in order to increase the visibility of women in target texts: prefacing and footnoting, supplementing, and high jacking (Flotow, 1991). Supplementing happens when the text is supplemented by its translation. Supplementing occurs when the source text is matured, developed, and given an afterlife in its translation. It is about over translating parts in the text to compensate for the differences between languages and is considered a voluntarist action on the text. It is also a strategy used to defy patriarchy of language in the translation process. For instance, when the ‘e’ that stands in French for the feminine form of the word is translated, it is often lost in the translation process. Therefore, a feminist translator would opt for supplementing this lack by adding the feminine form ‘she’, ‘her’, or the word ‘woman’ to supplement this lack. When it comes to Egyptian feminist translators, the same strategy was used to save the lack of women representation in language by adding the feminine form next to masculine form in Arabic through using the strategy of feminization in the translation process as seen in samples in table 3.

             The second strategy used by Canadian feminist translators is prefacing and footnoting. According to Flotow (1991), it is almost routine like for feminist translators to reflect on their work in preface and highlight that they are going to be actively present throughout the text in footnotes. In other words, Canadian feminist translators seek to flaunt their signature in italics, footnotes, and prefaces. They are consciously ‘womanhandling’ the text and are active participants in the creation of meaning. When it comes to Egyptian feminist translators, the usage of footnoting and prefacing is of a different purpose. It does not seek to flaunt the women translator’s signature throughout the text and it does not seek to make the translators visible. This could be due to the fact that the text chosen for translation are feminist by nature and require minimum intervention on the behalf of the Egyptian translator. In addition, the prefaces were usually divided into a preface for the translator and a preface for the editor, while some books had only a preface for the editor. Even though these prefaces are usually made to rationalize the choice of articles, give background knowledge about the discipline, and identify translation method, still that does not take from the agency of these prefaces since the fact that the entire selection and organization of articles is the editor’s job. Thus, this fact compensates for the lack of translator visibility in the translated text.

            The final strategy is high jacking which takes place when the translator becomes so intrusive in the target text, that the reader feels like the translator is the co-author of the text. It is an effect that is voluntarily created by the Canadian feminist translator and is directly mentioned in the preface and footnotes. In this sense, the translated work becomes an information textbook that is overly didactic (Flotow, 1991). When it comes to Egyptian feminist translators, in the context of Feminist Translations project, the works chosen for translation are of academic nature and their goal is to provide educational and theoretical gender studies related background. Therefore, it is didactic by nature and requires the least amount of interference on behalf of the translator. However, literal translation and borrowing of specific terms, book titles, and names and adding the original reference in English between brackets right next to them (see tables 1 and 2) added to this sense of informativity. This makes the translation of Egyptian feminist translator include an educational quality instead of constantly interfering or dictating how the text should be understood.

             When it comes to the functionality of the translation practice, both Canadian feminist translators and Egyptian feminist translators have the same general goal, which is to bring about the importance of women’s role through the use of translation. However, the first aims to make women more visible in language and in the translation process itself, while the latter focuses on using translation itself as a method of bringing about change and rectify negative gender stereotypes in the Arab region.

4. Conclusion

The problem of the study has been contextualized and brought to light, which is the lack of research when it comes to investigating how Arab women translate the works of western women. The aim of the study and the research questions were set forth and explained. The methodology and data description were elaborated and rationalized. Finally, samples of analysis were given and a preliminary discussion about the groups of translators was drawn. From this stance, it becomes possible to set preliminary findings to this study: first, both Arab and Canadian feminist translators seek to supplement the lack of women representation in language by making the feminine forms of words more visible in the language of the target text. Second, Arab feminist translators, to a great extent, include a systematic approach in the process of making the feminine visible, translating gender and feminism related terms, and in signaling the feminist agenda in forewords and prefaces in the target text; however, the arab feminist translation practice includes some differences from the mainstream Canadian feminist translation practice. When it comes to the usage of prefacing and footnoting, both groups identify their ideological stance in the preface and highlight that their works must be read from a feminist perspective. However, Egyptian feminist translators are less intrusive when it comes to the notion of ‘the visibility’ of the translator through the use of explanatory footnotes. Third, because of the difference in the content being translated, Egyptian feminist translators create agency through the selection of information being presented and thus they do not impose certain interpretations to certain notions, which is an opposite stance to that of the Canadian feminist translators’ practice. Fourth, the functionality of the actual practice is different; Egyptian feminist translators use translation as a tool to bring about change, while Canadian translators try to make themselves visible in the translation. The previously mentioned differences do not set a shortcoming on behalf of the Egyptian feminist translators, because the practice of feminist translation is still a growing notion in the Arab region and the act of feminist translation is still at the stage of introducing knowledge through the use of translation. But now it can be foreshadowed that with the growth of this feminist translation practice, it is expected that Arab Egyptian feminist translators will be developing a set of translation strategies that govern their ow n translation practice. First of which became vivid, is the use of English source words in the target texts to facilitate the process of searching information off of the internet. This gives an educational essence to the Egyptian feminist translation practice that makes it stand out against their Canadian counterparts.