Speakers

Dr Mustafa Riad
Professor of English Literature, English Department, Faculty of Arts, Ain Shams University

Biography

Mustafa Riad is a professor of English Literature, Faculty of Arts, Ain Shams University. His research interests include comparative studies and translation. A translator and editor of several works and  studies in literature and the humanities. Published papers and took part in conferences in Egypt and abroad in the fields of theatre and translation. Editor-in-chief of Al Masrah (Theatre) magazine published by the General Egyptian Book Organization.

Presentation Abstract

The Role of Translation in Building the Nation State in Modern Egypt Since the 19th Century

Early in the 19th century, Egypt witnessed the initials of a building process to create a modern nation state, which raised several questions about identity and using modern styles taken from the West, especially during the reign of Muhammed Ali. That process and its associated questions have reached their peak during the reign of Khedive Ismail and his successors in the Alawite family. A discrepancy has deepened between an Ottoman Memluk past and a present saturated with Western concepts that accompanied the French Expedition and the tendency of Egypt’s rulers towards westernization. However, the contributions of translators have participated in bridging this gap while assuring the national Egyptian identity and guaranteeing communication with the other who represent the power of occupation and the power of knowledge at the same time.

 The researcher is interested in studying selective translations from the first half of the 20th century, especially the production of the Committee of Authorship, Publishing and Translation, established by Ahmed Amin and others in 1914. The research time frame also includes the works of Taha Hussein and Ahmed Lutfy El-Saeid in translating Classical works (Athenians System, translated by Taha Hussein and Politics, translated by Ahmed Lutfy El-Saeid) which have contributed in shaping the cultural structure of the Egyptian modern national identity . the researcher also demonstrates translation projects that accompanied  the modern era since July 1952 till now.