This study examines Basma Abdel Aziz’s The Queue (2016) and Here Is a Body (2021) with particular attention to dystopia. It argues that Abdel Aziz draws on dystopia as a germane genre to confront existing socio-political upheaval in some Middle Eastern and North African countries, against the background of the Arab Spring. Equally important, she assigns a provocative fate to the protagonists in each novel to express disappointment with recent events while simultaneously impacting the reading experiences with the intervention of a broad range of emotions. The study concludes that Abdel Aziz encapsulates dystopia to engage with existing circumstances rather than imagining a dark futuristic scenario that would be worse than the present. In doing so, she conveys a poetic ray of hope by constructing a possibility for a better future through a dystopian lens. Thus, her dystopian account is not anti-utopia, but rather, it is a call for utopia.

This study focuses on teaching journalistic translation courses to undergraduate students in Libya. It advocates a student-centered approach that is process-oriented and taskbased, with a view to creating an active learning environment in which undergraduate students can hone their translation skills, increase their awareness of genre, improve their translation pace, and achieve class objectives and learning outcomes. It contends that such a strategy, complemented with the use of computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools, provides meaningful interactions and enriching learning experiences when utilized successfully. It also suggests that pedagogical strategies, such as a translation portfolio and detailed rubric for comprehensive assessment, along with effective feedback, are important parts of the teaching process.

Abstract

Jalal al-Din Rumi (1207–1273), a 13th-century Persian Islamic poet, is considered one of the greatest Sufi mystic poets in the history of humanity. His legacy has survived many centuries and crossed the threshold of languages through the door of translation, enabling his oeuvre to access other cultures. Rumi composed his poems predominantly in Persian (Farsi), some poems in Arabic, a few poems in Turkish, and fewer in Greek, as in his magnum opus, Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi, (which was named after his spiritual teacher). Many of his Persian works have been translated into English and other European languages over the past few centuries, and these translations have played a paramount role in introducing Rumi and Sufism to Western audiences. Not surprisingly, Rumi loves Arabic, and he has a special place in his heart for this Semitic tongue. However, despite the importance of Arabic in Rumi‘s writing, his Arabic poems are seldom translated or analyzed, unlike Persian poems, which are extensively translated and examined. Hence, the paucity of translating Arabic poems of Rumi into English and their analysis is quite curious. Only a few scholars have tried their hands at translating and examining the Arabic poems of Rumi most notably Franklin Lewis. This essay sheds light on the significance of Arabic in Rumi‘s writings, and it then examines Nesreen Akhtarkhavari‘s and Anthony Lee‘s translation of Love Is My Savior: The Arabic Poems of Rumi (2016). It also seeks to address how the power of creativity in translation is crucial in rendering or reconciling the aesthetic characteristics of Rumi‘s Arabic poetic expression into English.