(Auto)traduire La ceinture : entre l’individuel et le collectif

Abstract

This article looks into both the Arabic self-translation and English translation of Saudi writer Ahmed Abodehman’s first novel La ceinture (The Belt). The dialectic between the group and the individual at the heart of the novel will be our guiding thread. Whereas Abodehman’s decision to write in French stands as a way out of the straightjacket imposed by both classical and dialectal Arabic, self-translating the novel back into Arabic can potentially dissolve the hard-won individuality in the collective order of Arabic. As for the English translation, it gives a new meaning to the dialectic between the individual and the collective.